The Acquaintance
by that.girl.we.all.luv
Summary: It all started with curiosity getting the better of a civilian girl when she decided to say "hello" to the most hated child in Konoha. (This is probably going to turn into a crack fic lol).
1. First Meeting

_October 10th, Year 1._

 _It's a pretty ugly day_ , Ippan thought to herself. It was raining rather hard, but she brought an umbrella with her. The sky was clear not that long ago. Now it was dark and a bit chilly. Not to mention how grouchy the town had been lately. They always seemed to be depressed and angry around this time of year.

The seven year old playfully splashed her feet in a puddle on the street. She was half way home when she saw something peculiar catch her eye. There was a little boy sitting on the side of the road. He was completely soaked. He looked dirty like he had been rolling around on the ground. Ippan remembered that her mother told her to come straight home, but curiosity got the better of her.

She walked over to him and slightly leaned over her umbrella to keep him from getting anymore wet. The boy had his head tucked into his knees up until that moment.

Ippan tilted her head. "Hello, why're you sitting in the rain?"

His blue eyes searched around before staring up at her in surprise. "...you're talking to...me?"

She thought that was a silly question. Of course she was, but she decided to settle for: "Yes."

He was speechless for a moment. "You...Why?"

"Cause I want to know why you're sitting here." She looked the boy over again. "You're also dirty. Why is that? Did you fall?"

The blond boy looked down in shame as if talking would cause a problem. He tucked his hands around his legs. "Yeah..."

She stared at him as she saw his eyes glance over to her bag of food. The little girl surprised him by raising it to his face. "Are you hungry? Mommy asked me to buy dinner, but I got goodies too."

His eyes locked onto the bag before shaking his head. "'m not hungry." Suddenly his stomach growled.

Ippan pulled out a packaged food and forced it into his face. "Here. It's a sweet bean bun." He looked at her skeptically. "Take it. I wasn't 'uppose to get this, so if you eat it my mommy won't know."

She grinned at him and he hesitantly took it. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." She said. "I have to go home now. Don't stay out here! Mommy say's this is how people get sick!" She waved before hurrying along as he blinked at her.

The six year old stared down at the packaged food. The girl had unknowingly given him a birthday gift.


	2. The Second Time

_November 12th, Year 1._

Ippan was a civilian, meaning she went to a 'boring normal' school. Which she heard other kids training to become a shinobi would say. She supposed that it was true. She couldn't walk up walls or make a double of herself. Sometimes she would get curious on her way home from school and take a peak at the fancy Academy. Nothing extraordinary ever really happened. However, today was different.

As she walked past the Academy on her way home she heard a yell from an older man. Curiosity got the better of her as she shuffled her feet and looked from behind a tree. A tanned man jumbled about angrily with white powder covering his body. Ippan stared at him.

"Naruto! I know this was you, so you'd better come out!" He yelled, stalking around the area. This 'Naruto' was most likely in trouble. However, the man flaring up in random bursts of annoyance was a bit funny.

Ippan blinked when she heard a chuckle from the top of the tree. She slowly looked up to see the blond from before. He was crouched in a branch trying to smother his laughter, but it wasn't working very well. What was he doing in a tree? Perhaps...he was the boy who covered the ninja in white powder. Then Naruto might be that boys name. That also meant that he was a trouble maker.

"If you don't come out, your punishment will only be worse." The man said.

"You there." The little girl jumped in surprise.

"Yes!" She yelped nervously, though she had nothing to fear. She didn't want to give away the boy's hiding spot.

"Do you need assistance with anything?" He asked her much kinder than his tone a moment ago. Ippan quickly shook her head. "Well...have you seen a blond boy anywhere around?"

The little girl froze, she subtly looked up at Naruto who looked down at her. Her eyes turned back to the man. "No..."

He raised a brow at her blatantly obvious lie. "Are you sur-"

"Sorry sir, don't know any! I gotta go home now!" She yelled, running down the street. She hoped that had protected the boy a little.

Naruto was found and punished moments later.


	3. Another

_November 23rd, Year 1._

Ippan hadn't realized it before, but Naruto was actually a well known child. She'd heard his name multiple times around the village when she was out with her mother. Though, it seemed that he wasn't very well liked. Perhaps it was because of the pranks he pulled, but she couldn't tell for sure. Ippan didn't know the boy or his behavior. He was a stranger, well, perhaps a bit more than that. She _did_ at least know his name...maybe an acquaintance?

Though she couldn't tell if it really mattered all that much. She'd only talked to him because he looked sad and she was worried that he might not have a home. Mother always said dirty people that sat on the street were most likely homeless. But her father also always said mother was very judgmental. Perhaps she had thought wrong about the blond boy.

Ippan munched down on a piece of sweet bread, humming happily. She always made a point to purposely walk past the bakery. The old man that worked there was kind and loved to feed her, but he often made comments that she looked like a member of the Akimichi clan. Ippan wasn't quite sure if that was a compliment or not but she kept it to herself. She didn't want the man to stop giving her free food.

As the little girl walked down the street happily, she noticed a familiar boy sitting on a swing. _It's Naruto,_ she thought to herself. Ippan contemplated whether she should say hello or not. He looked fine today so perhaps she shouldn't. She walked back and forth in a circle until his eyes caught hers. Now it was too late to leave, he had seen her. For a moment he looked down at his feet. No, maybe he doesn't recognize her. Ippan turned to leave when he called out:

"H-Hey, you!" Maybe he wasn't talking to her. "Purple haired girl!"

 _No, he's talking to me_ , she thought. Ippan slowly turned around and walked over to the boy. He swayed his small legs on the swing, looking a bit nervous. "Hello again."

"Hi!" He loudly blurted, making her wince. "You, you're from before."

She decided that it was alright to talk to the boy. He didn't seem that bad, despite the village speaking badly of him. "Yeah, I'm Ippan and you're Naruto."

He blinked at her, seeming a bit lost. "You know me?"

"Not really. I heard that man yell it sometime ago."

"Oh, Iruka sensei." The boy began to grin. "That was a funny prank, right?"

She thought for a moment. "Yeah, but maybe you shouldn't do it so much. 'Cause you'll look like a trouble maker and that's not good."

Naruto furrowed his brow before shrugging. "I don't care about that."

Ippan stared at him for a moment. Her father always said that she should stay away from trouble makers. Maybe this wasn't a good idea after all. "I should go now."

"Ah, um, wait don't leave yet!" Naruto quickly pulled at the sleeve of her shirt. "I have something for you."

"Me?" He didn't even know her, let alone that she was going to pass by. "What is it?"

She watched as he went for his pocket and pulled out wrappers and what looked like candy. He picked out the extra paper and dropped the candy into her hand.

Ippan raised her brow. "What's this for?"

"That time you gave me food, I just want to pay you back, dattebayo..." He seemed shy about the whole exchange, which made the little girl smile.

"Thank you." She smiled. "Just don't sit in the rain anymore, okay."

The boy seemed genuinely happy now and nodded. "I won't."

Ippan waved to the boy and turned on her way. Now he knew her name and she knew nothing about him. He was no longer a stranger, but couldn't really call him a friend. Yeah, acquaintance fits best.


	4. Accidentally Assaulted

January 25th, Year 1.

"Have you made any new friends lately, Ippan?" Her mother asked, without looking at her. They were both in the kitchen and her mother was cooking breakfast.

Ippan thought about her newest acquaintance, Naruto, other than that no. She didn't socialize very much and people commented on how blunt she could be. So she didn't have very many she would consider friends. "No, mommy, why do you ask?"

"Well, I've heard something going around the village lately." She paused. "Do you know a boy named Naruto?"

Ippan slowly nodded. "Yes, I talk to him sometimes."

"I see." Her mother sighed, and sounded almost bothered with a mix of nervousness. "Well, sweetie...I don't think you should associate yourself with him..."

The little girl tilted her head in confusion. "Why? Is it because he does pranks? I know there not really good, but he's still nice."

He mother seemed a bit deterred, before nodding. "Yes, well, Ippan...he's a very mischievous child and it wouldn't be good for you to speak with him."

Ippan furrowed her brow. So he was a bad kid? "You don't want him to anfulent me?"

" _Influence_ , and yes. I want you to stay a good little girl." Her mother gave her kind smile and some how it didn't feel right, but she nodded.

"Okay, mommy." She said.

* * *

Ippan decided that she would go to the park today, rather than wander by her self as usual. She held up a stick and glided it against the wooden fence. Somehow what her mother said sounded wrong. Even if Naruto was really that bad, why tell her to avoid him? She never cared before about who her friends were before. Not to say she had very many to begin with.

"Hey!"

Ippan yelped when said blond boy suddenly stood in front of her. On instinct she swatted the stick at him, hitting him in the face.

"Ak, what was that for?!"

The girl dropped the stick and immediately apologized. "Oh! I'm sorry you scared me." He rubbed his cheek with a sulking expression. "Are you okay, do you need a doctor?"

"'m fine, a stick isn't gonna kill me, dattebayo..."

They stood there quietly for a moment and Ippan looked him over seeing he had goggles on. She poked the lenses with her finger. "Ooh, these are cool."

He grinned, forgetting the pain in his cheek. "Yeah, they were a gift."

"From your parents?" She asked.

Naruto's smile diminished slightly. "No, from Jiji."

Ippan blinked, not quite understanding, but decided not to question it. Asking about his parents made him sad. Maybe they weren't nice.

"So where are you headed?" He asked curiously.

"To the park."

"Oh...can I come?"

Suddenly, she remembered what her mother had said about the boy. Ippan didn't want to disobey her mother, but it didn't seem right to listen either. After all she didn't know him.

"My mommy says I should't talk to you cause she says you're bad." Ippan decided to state honestly. Naruto's expression turned sad and made her feel guilty.

"Oh..." He turned to leave. Ippan grabbed him by the back of his goggles making him turn to her.

"But I don't think she's right."

"Really?" There was so much hope in his voice.

"Yeah, she says we shouldn't be friends, but we can keep it a secret."

"How do we do that?" He asked.

"We can say we're acquaintances. That's what my daddy does when doesn't want to call someone his friend."

Naruto didn't seem to understand, but he knew that he was going to have a friend. "Okay! So do you want to go to the park?"

"Yeah." She said as he walked beside her.


	5. A Meeting to Plot and Vandalize

August 3rd, Year 3.

Ippan chomped down on an apple as she looked at Naruto. They met up at the park after school and he'd been sighing for about six minutes now, it was starting to annoy her. Her nine year old patients could only hold so long. Ippan took the apple core and threw it at the back of his head.

"Hey, why did you do that?" He asked, rubbing his head with a frown.

"Because you're being really annoying." She answered simply. "Why do you keeping sighing and stuff?"

"Cause of Sakura." He said with a wide and giddy smile.

She had no idea who that was, but she was going to assume that it was a girl. "Do you like her or something?"

"Yeah! She the prettiest girl in the _whole_ Academy, dattebayo!" He raised his arms as if to emphasize his point.

"Then you should tell her?" Simple.

Naruto suddenly started to frown in a pouting fashion. "Yeah I already did, but there's this stupid teme, named Sasuke. All the girls like him! For no reason!"

"He's probably cute." She deduced. "Is he cute?"

A disgusted expression formed on his face. "Why would you even ask me something like that? That's gross, dattebayo!"

"It's just a question." Ippan replied. "Young girls usually like boys who are good-looking. That's what my mom always says."

"No way, his hair looks like a ducks butt and he's always frowning." Naruto said, crossing his arms. Ippan poked his cheek.

"You're frowning too." She paused.

The boy slowly let the frown fall as he turned to Ippan. "Anyway, I'm pretty handsome too, right, right?"

The girl tilted her head. "Mmmm...let me think."

"Why do you have to think about it?!" He yelled.

"I'm taking in all of your face...I guess you look handsome."

Naruto frowned. "You guess?"

"What? You're my friend, so it would be weird to say stuff like that." It was strange thinking that they had been friends, well acquaintances, for almost three years. Her mother would ask what she was doing when she came home a bit late, but she would usually lie pretty smoothly. At least from her perspective.

"I guess you're right." The eight year old reluctantly agreed. "But I thought of a really cool prank this time and it will make everyone notice me!"

"Naruto you've already been in detention four times this week along with bathroom clean up. I don't think this is a good idea." Ippan scolded.

"No, no, no, but listen...what if, wait for it, what if I painted over all the Hokage faces! It would be so funny, dattebayo!" He cackled to himself as the older girl rolled her eyes disapprovingly.

"You wouldn't get away with it. There are too many people in this village that would see you."

"Well, that's the best part! If people see _me_ and what I did they'll have to recognize me." Naruto said.

She knew that the boy had an attention issue that he wouldn't address; however, she also knew why he acted the way he did. People weren't all that nice the kid and mostly ignored him if they could. She noticed that on the occasions that she spent with him.

Ippan sighed, it was obvious that she wasn't going to get him to understand. "Well,...maybe when you're a more experienced ninja you can do pranks like that. Then people will see how cool you are."

Naruto grinned brightly at her. Sucker. "Wow, I didn't think of it that way. If they see how sneakily I can just paint on the Hokage face- they'll have to recognize how awesome I am!"

"Right." Ippan agreed, glad that she got him off the subject for now.

"Then Sakura will have to see how much better I am than _that_ teme." The boy said with squinted eyes.

"You do that Naruto." They were both quiet when his stomach suddenly grumbled. "You're hungry?"

She turned to her bag and pulled out an instant ramen. "Take this."

"What...why do you have this with you?" He took it with a confused expression.

"I've been getting more hungry in class nowadays." She stated simply.

"But you can't cook it in...okay." He decided not to argue, giving him free food was her thing.


	6. Fruit Ninja

September 18th, Year 3.

"See anything new about me?" Naruto asked as he walked in front of Ippan clearly trying to show off his new attire. It looked like a jump suite really, not to mention that it was bright orange. It reminded her of a literal orange and thinking about fruit made her hungry.

"I'm hungry." She said.

Naruto deadpanned. "You're always hungry."

"So this should be nothing new to you then." Ippan countered.

"But you didn't answer my question!" He pouted with puffed out cheeks.

"Okay." The girl sighed. "It's your jump suit right?"

The hyperactive child grinned. "Yeah! I got it yesterday, isn't it cool?"

Ippan wasn't a mean person, at least she didn't think so. Therefore she didn't want to say anything to hurt the boys feelings. "Mm, it's orange."

"Yeah, that's my favorite color." She guessed that fact a while back. Naruto always had the color on somewhere. "What's your's? Oh! I know purple right?"

"No." The girl answered with a raised brow. "Why do you think that?"

"Well, cause your hair is purple."

"You..." He blinked at her as if it was the most logical answer. "never mind..."

"So if it isn't purple then what is your favorite color?"

"Green." She answered as she began to stand on top of a large log.

"Oh like Sakura's eyes." He said with a stupid smile.

Ippan rolled her own eyes. "You're still going on about her?"

"Why did you say it like that?" Naruto asked with a frown.

"Cause you talk about her _aaalllll_ the time, but it sounds like she's obsessed with this Sasuke boy." Ippan held up her hands to balance herself. "Plus, she hits you. I saw that bump on your head last week."

"I told you it wasn't serious."

"Why would you like a girl whose mean to you?"

"Sakura isn't bad. You've just never met her."

And was perfectly fine with that. "Anyway Naruto, aren't ninja suppose to be hidden and stuff? I think orange is gonna stick out."

"Exactly." He said proudly. "I'll take bad guys down with my super awesome ninja techniques and all they'll see is an orange flash. Then they'll think 'Naruto'."

Ippan shook her head and patted his. "I believe in you."

He pushed her hand off with a pout. "Don't treat me like a little kid."

"Hey, we are kids. Plus, you're shorter and younger than me."

"Only by a year, dattebayo!" He argued.

"You're still shorter." She teased. Height and age always seemed to make him upset when she brought it up. Most of the time it was funny. Though, enough people made fun of Naruto already, so she didn't do it that often. "Let's go to the swing set, I bet I can go higher than you."

"No way! Once I flipped it all the way around!"

"Did you get hurt?"

"Maybe..."


	7. It's Called A Motafer

October 9th, Year 3.

For some reason around this time of year Naruto seemed really sad. Not to mention, people are meaner to him than usual. Ippan had notice for the past few years, but decided that if the boy wanted to tell her she would listen. She remembered being very blunt when she was seven and maybe that wasn't the nicest thing to do. However, the girl just couldn't help herself.

They walked down the street side by side and she glanced toward him every once in a while. It was strange for Naruto to be so quiet. Most of the time she would be irritated at how loud he could be. She couldn't blame him though; she wasn't much different. Perhaps that's why she didn't have very many friends.

Ippan couldn't hold it in anymore. "Naruto, what's wrong with you? Why are you acting depressed and stuff?"

He turned to her and did his best to smile. "What do you mean? I'm completely fine, dattebayo!"

She frowned and poked his fake grinning cheek. "You can't fool me by using you're silly catch phrase."

"Hey, it's not silly, or a catch phrase!" He argued. "And _I_ am fine."

"Then why are you so quiet." Ippan crossed her arms and cocked a hip to the side. She was mimicking the way her mother accused her father and it usually worked.

Naruto held his hands behind his head and attempted to avoid her eyes. "Why can't you just leave it?"

"Cause I don't wanna." And she wasn't going to just leave him to be depressed.

"That's not a good reason!"

"It's better than you trying to run away."

"How can I run away if I'm standing right here?" He countered.

"It's a motafer." Wait, she might have said it wrong...

Naruto raised his brow. "A what? That's not a real word."

"Yeah it _is_!" She yelled. Somehow she had lost the point of the conversation. "You just don't know what it means."

Ippan was starting to realize that she had said the word wrong, but decided to keep it to herself. Plus she didn't want to lose the argument.

The boy pursed his lips. "It doesn't matter, cause I'm not running."

"Then prove it." She challenged. "You're gonna be a ninja right? Prove to me that you aren't a _scaredy-cat_ whose afraid of a little civilian girl-"

"My birthday is tomorrow!" He blurted. "Okay?"

Ippan blinked. "Huh?" His...birthday? "Really? What is that to be sad about?" Birthdays are supposed to be happy.

Naruto gave a down cast expression. "People are really mean to me on my birthday, so I hate that day."

"Why would they be mean to you?" That just didn't make any sense. What could a eight year old do for them to dislike him so much.

"I dunno, I just know everyone hates me." He said trying to keep a straight face.

"Well I don't." Ippan stated. "Sure you wear orange and you're loud and kind of annoying."

Naruto frowned.

"But I still like you." She said with a smile.

"Really?" He asked with hopeful eyes. It was as if he didn't want to believe her and why not? It had been three years. You'd think he would feel more secure about their friendship.

"Of course, I don't have that many friends either."

"I never would have guessed."

Ippan deadpanned. "Shut up before I don't give you a birthday present."

"What is it?" He asked excitedly.

"Not telling."

"Aw please!"

"No."

The next day he was given nine sweet buns and Naruto couldn't say that he was surprised. However, Ippans mother was at a lost of where all the snacks were going.


	8. Oil Spill

October 26th, Year 3.

"Hey, Ippan." Naruto said.

"Mm?"

They both were laying in the grass, looking up at the sky. It was normal for them to hang out now. Therefore the duo went the park more often than anywhere else. It wasn't as if Ippan was a very active child. She was chubby and didn't really care for running, so it was strange when the boy insisted on hanging out with her sometimes.

"I've been thinking about something."

"Oooh, thinking?" Ippan liked a good tease and Naruto's reaction never failed to amuse her.

"Ippan." She could feel his deadpan.

"Okay, okay, so what's on your mind?" The girl turned her head to the boy when he didn't answer right away.

He looked at her with a mix of excitement and determination. "I think I want to become the Hokage."

Ippan blinked before sitting up completely to look at Naruto. He peered up at her in confusion when she looked at him with a raised brow.

"Why would you want to do that?"

He wasn't expecting that question. "What do you mean why?"

"You can't answer my question with a question, that's not how it works." Ippan sat up as Naruto stared at her. "If you're just gonna blurt stuff you have to give a reason."

"Mm, I don't know. It just came to me earlier when I saw Jiji." He held his arms behind his head and didn't look at her.

"Jiji, you mean the third Hokage?" She asked. At some point in time Naruto had told her that he knew the Hokage personally. That was interesting on it's own, but he never gave her much more details.

"Yeah, I just wanted to see what you thought about it."

Ippan held a hand up to her chin. "Hm, well I think if you're gonna start going around telling people that, you should have a reason why."

"I guess I just want to be looked at as strong and the Hokage is the strongest person in the whole village." He steadily answered, seeming to have put some thought into it.

"That makes since" She said with a nod. The little girl pulled grass out of the ground and sprinkled it onto Naruto's face. His nose crinkled as he peered up at her. "I don't know much about being a ninja, but I learned about the Hokages in school."

"So?"

"Well, you gotta be smart too if you're a leader, right?"

He furrowed his brow. "Are you saying that I'm not?"

"I'm saying you should study too. I saw your last test."

"It's not all about book smarts, dattebayo!"

"I had to wait for you to get out of detention for spilling oil in the teachers lounge."

"That was a genius prank."

"You were caught."

"It was worth it."

Ippan sighed. "Well, all I'm saying is, if you want to be Hokage you have to be smart as well as strong. That's what all the books say."

"Fine,...wait. You read?" He teased.

"Ha, you're so funny."


	9. A Meet to Destroy Ones Enemies

January 30th, Year 4.

Naruto looked at the Ippan and she stared back at him. It was obvious there was something wrong with the scene. The older girl was covered in grape juice and didn't seem all that bothered. She gripped onto her backpack before greeting the boy.

"Hey."

His eye twitched. "Hey? HEY? That's all you have to say, is hey?"

"Well I could also say hello, but I think we're past the formalities." She said, clearly trying to avoid the inevitable conversation.

"Oh you better believe it, dattebayo!" He yelled. "Who did this to you?"

Ippan shrugged, kicking her foot in the dirt. "I can't really say for sure. I have a few suspects."

"A few? Why would anyone target you to bully?" He demanded. This was the first he'd ever seen anything mean happen to her and he demanded and explanation.

"Naruto how long have you known me?" She deadpanned.

"...good point." He mumbled. "But still, doesn't it bother you? You're being _bullied_ and I won't stand for it."

"Then sit down."

"Why aren't you more angry about this?" He paused. "Why aren't you ever angry about anything?"

"Of course I'm upset, but if I show it then they'll just keep doing it." Ippan explained. "My dad always says if you really want to hurt someone just don't react."

"That's not good enough. I aught to go over there myself and beat them up." He said pounding his fist into his hand.

"Naruto, it's a civilian school for regular people, in case you forgot. You'd probably kill him."

"Wait, _him_?"

Oops.

"So a boy did this to you? Give me a name."

Ippan rolled her eyes. "It's not that serious."

"If it's not, then why can't you just give me his name?"

"Because you're overly aggressive."

"Overly aggre- you're covered in sticky stuff-"

"Grape juice."

"I don't care what kind of juice it is!" He barked. "I'm your friend and as your friend, I'm in charge of beating up your enemies."

"Well, if a rogue ninja tries to attack you, I'm not taking the kunai for you." Ippan said opening up her bag.

"You don't have to, I'll be a super strong ninja and can protect...what are you doing?" Naruto watched as she pulled out a water-bottle and a jacket.

"I can't let my mom see me like this or she'll have a fit." Ippan pored the water over her head to rinse out as much of the juice as she could. She then pulled on the jacket and shook out her hair. "Better."

"You were prepared for this?" He asked with a furrowed brow and frown. "Ippan, who did it?"

She sighed. "I was rude to an older boy. Now he and his friends bother me daily."

"Rude?"

"Apparently talking to him his rude."

"Oh."

"I'm sure they'll get bored soon enough."

"No, not soon enough." He said. "Ippan if I said I could get them to stop would you tell me?"

She raised her brow in question. "What would you do?"

He only grinned.

The following week the boys left Ippan alone and Naruto never did tell her what he had done to stop them.


	10. Your Parent's Might Know Everything

March 5th, Year 4.

Today Ippan and Naruto were going to the park. The younger boy liked to run around and play, but he soon found out that Ippan wasn't an active girl. She was alright with being slow and not in the exact shape that was considered healthy. That being said, the girl had promised to bring snacks on their little get together in the woods. He always seemed to be hungry and she loved to eat. So it was a win-win situation.

Ippan tip-toed to the kitchen, scoping out the area. It was the weekend so her mother was out gossiping with her girlfriends. Her father was working late the night before so he'd most likely be sleeping. She tried her best to quietly pick up a few sweet buns and other things she might need. When she stuffed everything into her bag she turned around jumped when she saw her father standing in front of her.

"OH! Hi, dad..." Ippan guiltily held the bag of food items. "Good morning."

"What's that you got there?"

"Just some stuff..." She couldn't lie to her father because he always knew.

"Some stuff, hm?"

"Yeah, I'm going to the park, so I might get hungry." Just stay as close to the truth as possible.

"Oh really?" He asked calmly with a raised brow.

"Yes." They stared at each other before he shrugged lazily.

"Well, have fun and don't get sick from eating too much. You know your mom will be mad if you spoil your appetite."

Ippan was relieved. "Okay, I won't." She walked toward the door.

"Oh and Ippan?"

"Yes, dad?"

"Tell that friend of yours if he wants a good meal he should come here to get it." The girl almost tripped.

"I...don't know what you mean dad..." She dragged out without looking at him.

"Oh you don't, well just keep what I said in mind. You know, whenever you make that friend." He said in a knowing tone.

"...okay."

* * *

"So...I think my dad is a ninja." Ippan stated firmly as she sat beside a large tree.

Naruto raised his brow as he turned to her. "Really?"

"Yeah, that seems to be the only logical explanation."

"What are you talking about?"

"That's the only way to explain why he knows everything." The girl paused before looking at Naruto. "He knows about you."

"How? I thought we keeping the secret pretty well."

"No...now that I think about it, we really weren't. I mean we hang out all the time and my mom always asks where the food is going."

Naruto shifted uncomfortably. "So, do you want to stop hanging out together?"

"Why would you ask that?" Ippan asked with a confused tone.

"I mean won't you get in trouble if your mom finds out?" He attempted to ask casually.

Ippan studied his face and he was trying to hid the fact that he was sad. She suddenly poked him in the forehead and he blinked in surprise.

"Dummy." He frowned at her words.

"I am not! I'm serious, dattebayo!"

"And that's why you're dumb. Even if my mom finds out I decided a long time ago that I'd stay your friend." Ippan smiled.

His frustrated expression slowly faded from a frown. "Oh..."

"Don't act surprised. You should realize that your pretty much stuck with me for a long time."

"Oh the torture."

"Shut up and eat the food before I take it back." She pushed a sweet bun into Naruto's mouth as he furrowed his brow. "Sarcasm is my thing."

"Then what is my thing?"

"Yelling aggressively 24/7 and saying dattebayo."

"Hey, you...fair enough."

"That's what I thought."


	11. Meeting an Uchiha

April 15th, Year 5.

"So were you born with those whiskers on your cheeks?" Ippan asked lightly poking one of the marks on Naruto's face. She'd always wondered about it, but never voiced her question before.

"Yeah, as far as I can remember." He said holding his hands behind his head. "Why, are they weird or something?"

"A little." She said honestly. "But it's goes with everything else about you, I guess."

He narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "What do you mean by that?"

"Well, you've got wild blond hair and you wear a lot of orange." She paused as she examined him. "Plus, when you squint your eyes you remind me of a fox."

"A fox? You saying I look like an animal?" He asked in irritation.

"No, just if I had to pick an animal that reminded me of you, I'd pick a fox. Cause you're so sneaky."

He crossed his arms with a pout. "Well your hair is purple, that's weird too and you've got birth marks too." He meant the two freckles on her face.

She wasn't going to deny it. "Yeah it's purple, but it's okay purple is a nice color."

"So is blond and orange, dattebayo!" He defended.

Ippan rolled her eyes. He always yelled over the silliest things. "No need to get defensive Naruto. I didn't say they weren't."

"Hm, if we're gonna talk about animal look a likes, you remind me of a...uh...a panda!"

The girl blinked. "I guess that's fair."

"Oh come on, could you get mad for once?" He said with a sigh.

"Why? That's a pretty good comparison." She reasoned. "Besides I don't see why you'd get mad. Foxes are cute."

"I don't want to be cute! I'm gonna be the Hokage one day! Whose going to listen to someone like that?"

"You'd be surprised how much attractiveness can get peoples attention."

Naruto looked like he was going to argue but stopped mid way. "You...maybe...the girls in school do nothing but look at that stupid teme Sasuke."

"Mm, I'd like to see this Sasuke one day."

The boy looked at Ippan in disgusted. "No way, you might turn into one of his fan girls."

"You saying that is making me more curious." Naruto made a face of disagreement. Ippan smirked before looking down at her watch. It was getting dark and if she hurried she might make it home before her mother. She wanted to avoid being questioned of where she was and why she was out so late. Ippan wasn't going to lose Naruto as a friend, but she didn't want to deal with the conversation.

"I'd better go." She finally decided to say.

"Oh, okay." He said.

She glanced to him as he walked beside her. Ippan ruffled his hair with a smile. "Make sure not to get detention tomorrow, you promised we'd go to the ramen place you always talk about."

He finally grinned. "Okay I'll meet you there!"

* * *

Ippan secured her backpack as she walked down the street. It was getting dark but she would get home soon so she wasn't worried about it. As she turned the corner she bumped into something and fell to the ground with a "ouff". When she looked it was a boy staring at her with an indifferent expression. He didn't seem all that bothered that he had knocked her onto the ground.

Well, to be fair she wasn't looking where she was going.

However, he looked like he was going to walk right around her. "Hey, can you help me please?" He paused and turned to stare down at her. "You did knock me over."

He seemed to be contemplating whether or not to even bother. Ippan was about to stand up on her own when he put out a hand to pull her up. "Thanks I guess."

"Hm." He answered.

The girl raised her brow. What was his deal? Why was he so angsty? She wanted to ask, but decided to keep it to herself. Perhaps he was having a bad day.

She watched as he turned around and continued on walking. Ippan then saw the symbol on the back of his shirt. White and red? The girl thought hard. It was a clan symbol for sure. She remembered learning general information about clans in school.

"Oh." She said as she finally remembered. "Uchiha."


	12. Meeting the Pale-eyed Stalker

July 18th, Year 5.

Ippan was only a civilian, but she was convinced that someone was watching her. The feeling only occurred when she spent her time with Naruto, which had become more frequent over the years. Whenever he was around she had a rising suspicion that someone was staring at her. It didn't feel like the usual judging eyes of the village. She was use to that. At first she'd brushed it off as nothing, but now she was determined to figure it out.

"What are you thinking so hard about?" Naruto asked, slurping down some ramen. This was the third time this week they had gone to Ichiraku's and Ippan had to admit it was good. However, she didn't like it all the time. "And why aren't you eating?"

"Mm, not really hungry." She mumbled distractedly.

"What! _You_ , not hungry? Are you dying?!" He exclaimed.

Ippan raised her brow. "What? No, I just don't feel like eating. " She blinked when he put a hand up to her forehead.

"You don't have a fever. Are you sure you're okay?" Ippan rolled her eyes and brushed away the boys hand.

"I'm fine, I just don't like ramen as much as you do." She paused. "No offense Teuchi."

The older man smiled. "None taken."

"If nothing is wrong with you, then why do you look like that?" He accused with squinted eyes.

It seemed like he noticed something was bothering her. "Look, do you...do you ever feel like we're being watched?"

"Of course we are! You hang out with me remember?" He said with a wide grin. He seemed to be attempting to joke about the villages odd dislike for him.

"Never mind." Ippan mumbled, stirring up her uneaten ramen. She saw him eyeing her food and she pushed it over to him. "You can have it."

"You're the best Ippan!" He started on her bowl as the girl looked out of the restaurant to see a girl hiding behind a fence. The girl stared directly at Ippan before jumping and hiding once again.

 _Was that girl staring at me,_ Ippan silently questioned. Perhaps this was the reason she felt like she was being watched.

"So you see her too?" Ayame whispered.

Ippan blinked. "You know that girl?"

"Not really, but shes here sometimes whenever Naruto comes in."

"I heard my name what are you guys talking about?" Said boy asked.

"Girl stuff."

Naruto decided not to question it any further.

"So, you don't know who she is?" Ippan whispered.

"Well, she looks like a Hyuuga." The older girl answered.

"I see." She'd heard of the Hyuuga clan before, but didn't know much about them other than they had great eye sight. If she knew more perhaps she could figure out who the mystery girl was.

Once Naruto had finished, Ippan said her good byes to Teuchi and Ayame before going on their way. "Ah, ramen is always good."

"I think I'll end up hating ramen if I keep eating it the way you do."

"You're one to talk. You eat sweet buns all the time."

"But they're good."

"Ramen is better than sweet buns!"

"Yeah, you're right I'll just stop bringing them with me."

"No! I lied, they're the same level of goodness!" He exclaimed. "You don't have to stop bringing them!"

Ippan smirked. "Okay."

"So do you want to go anywhere else?" Naruto asked. She could tell he was trying to prolong the time they were out. He obviously had school work to do, but was avoiding it.

"Don't you have an exam coming up?"

The blond boy faltered. "Maybe..."

"I think you should go home and study."

"Aw, why? It's the ninja stuff that's important!"

"No one wants an incompetent ninja, Naruto. Much less if you're going to become the Hokage. I certainly wouldn't." She stated bluntly.

"I'm not stupid!"

"I didn't say you were. All I said is that you should study, because it's important. I want you to do well."

"Argh, okay fine I'll go home and study." He grumbled. Naruto continued to mutter to himself as he walked away.

"Make sure you try hard; I want 100%!" Ippan cheered. When he was out of sight, Ippan noticed the Hyuuga girl slipping around the corner. This was her chance to question her. Ippan jogged around the other side of the street and called out to her. "Hey you!"

The girl jumped and froze where she stood.

"I've got something to ask you!" The Hyuuga didn't turn around, but she could see her shaking. "Are you scared? I'm not gonna hurt you."

She slowly turned around. Her eyes were pale and strange. It looked like she was blind. Which was ironic because she heard about the clans excellent eyes.

"Why are you stalking me?"

"Yo-you...I'm...n-n-not."

"Not me? So Naruto then?" The girls face turned bright red.

"N...Naruto? St-talking? C-Could I be?" She whispered before taking off down the street.

"Wait I wasn't done!" Ippan attempted to run, but she stopped. Running wasn't her thing and she wasn't about to start now.

She sighed. "Another day, I guess."


	13. Questioning a Scarecrow

May 8th, Year 6.

Naruto had detention, again. Which meant that Ippan was left to herself, again. It didn't bother her per say, but it did leave her feeling a bit odd. There was a small emptiness in her chest when the mischievous boy wasn't around.

 _This was probably what is was like to miss someone you care about_ , Ippan thought as she walked down the street. Naruto was a friend, but she was starting to feel more like his mother over the past few years. She fed him, made him study, gave him advice and even scolded his wrongful behavior. The only thing she wasn't doing was supplying a roof over his head.

As Ippan thought about this she stopped in front of a book store. Her teacher asked all the students to pick out a book of their choosing for an upcoming report. She had nothing else to do so she might as well start now.

When she walked inside, Ippan saw an interesting man. He stood in the corner of the store with a casual attitude. His mouth was covered with a mask and his hair was almost white, but he looked young.

 _I'm going to talk to him_ , she decided.

When Ippan walked up to the man he was reading a book with an orange cover. She read the title aloud. "Icha Icha."

The man slowly looked down to her as he closed the novel. "Can I help you?"

"No. I'm fine." She said. "What are you reading?"

"A book." He stated bluntly.

"I can see that. I'm looking for a book for my report coming up soon. Is that one any good?"

"Why don't you ask the store owner for recommendations?" The man said avoiding her question. "I'm sure he would be more help."

"Yeah you're right." Ippan paused. "I just wanted to talk to you because you looked cool and mysterious."

He raised an eyebrow. Well at least she thought he did. His entire face except his right eye was covered. "Really?" He seemed amused with her.

"Yeah, I mean your face is covered and that's pretty weird."

"It's only weird because few people do it." He countered casually.

"Well why do you do it?"

"Maybe I'm ugly and don't want to be seen"

Ippan shook her head. "No, you're most likely good looking."

There was complete silence.

"You're a very blunt child."

"Yeah, I get that a lot. My name is Ippan."

"Kakashi."

"That's a cool name." The girl shifted a bit before turning. "Well, I'll go talk to the owner. It was nice to meet you."

"I have mixed feeling about our chat."

"That's fine. I'm sure you could grow to like me."

"..."

Ippan walked to the front counter with a smile. _I like him._

 _I think that little girl was hitting on me_ , Kakashi thought.


	14. Behold Naruto's Inner Woman

November 14th, Year 7.

"Hey, hey! Ippan you want to see something cool?" Naruto asked trying his best to hide his mischievous expression. He always looked that way when he pulled a prank of some sort.

"Did you graffiti a wall again?"

He shook his head. "No, it's a super cool ninja move." He seemed to be trying his best to hide his laughter.

This should be interesting.

"Okay." Ippan paused as she sat down on a swing. "Let's see it."

"Sexy no Jutsu!" He yelled as smoke clouded around.

Ippan coughed slightly and waved away the smoke. She looked up to see a naked woman with long blond hair. She winked with a smirk.

"So what do you think?"

The girl stared with a hand on her chin. "Mmm...Naruto you..."

Naruto grinned waiting for the girl to explode or at least show some form of surprise. However, that moment never came.

"You make an attractive female."

The boy fell over turning back into himself. "Oh come on! I was a naked woman! Can I get some reaction out of you!"

Ippan blinked. "You _did_. I said you were an attractive woman. What more do you want?"

"I wanted you to jump or get surprised, dattebayo!" Naruto pouted as he crossed his arms.

"Well you'll have to try harder than that." The girl said smiling and starting to swing back and forth. "That was actually impressive Naruto."

"Thanks." He said still seeming disappointed at yet another failed attempt to surprise his friend.

"Speaking of ninja stuff, I heard you guys are graduating soon right?"

"Yeah." His mood seemed to conflict between happiness and something else. "I just need to work on my henge and shadow clone jutsu...and testing skills."

"I'm sure you'll do fine. I mean look at what you just did."

"Yeah, but my clones look like I sucked the life out of them."

Ippan raised her brow. "Well how are you able to turn into a naked woman, but you can't make a clone?"

"I don't know."

"Where did you even find the inspiration to turn into a naked woman?"

"Well I...saw it in a grown up book store."

Ippan raised her brow. "Oh."

"And then-"

"Be quiet I don't want to know anymore." She said. There was a long silence. "Anyway can't you ask someone for help?"

"None of the teachers want to deal with me. I've failed this test two times already." Ippan stopped swinging and looked over at the blond.

"You never told me that before."

He shrugged. "I didn't want you to think I was stupid."

"Naruto, I know you're not stupid. You're probably just doing something wrong and it might be an easy fix."

"Yeah, but no one will tell me what it is."

"Well..." Ippan was at a loss. She had no idea what it was like to be a ninja, so how was she going to give advice? She pursed her lips before turning back to Naruto. "You know what?"

"What- ow!" He winced as the older girl chopped him over the head.

"Being upset isn't gonna help. I may not know what to do, but I know giving up isn't going to help either. You failed two times?"

"Yeah..." He said with a nod.

"Then third time is the charm." She said with a smile. "Don't let anyone say you can't do something, Naruto."

"You're right! This time I'll pass and I'll show all of them what I can do!" Naruto said swinging once again with a wide grin.

Ippan was glad she could give some advice even if she knew nothing about being a ninja.


	15. Caught In The Act

**I have no idea about time estimates so I'm just putting down whatever.**

January, 16th, Year 7.

Naruto had finally done it. He had finally graduated from the academy and he couldn't be more excited. After he beat up Mizuki sensei for tricking him into taking the forbidden scroll. He had proved he could make more than enough clones to pass the test. He was devasted before when he believed he had failed for the third time, but now he didn't have to worry about it. He was a ninja

Naruto wanted to tell the whole world, but he would settle for one person. Ippan. "What do you say about ramen, Naruto?" Iruka asked.

The boy hesitated for a moment before shaking his head with wide grin. "No, I've got somewhere I need to be."

The older man raised his brow. "Really?"

"Yeah! I've gotta tell my friend the big news!" He yelled as he jumped up into the trees and carried on his way. Naruto thought about waiting until the morning after Ippan had gotten out of school, but he wouldn't be able to sleep if he kept it to himself. This made the blond boy move faster nearing toward Ippan's apartment complex.

Naruto had never actually been in her house before, he'd only walked her home. He slowed down when he was insight of the building and stood outside. What if she was asleep or spending time with her family? The boy contemplated this for a moment before nodding in determination. He was already here, he might as well go ahead and do it.

He walked up the stairs and knocked on the front door, but no one answered. It was late, probably almost midnight. Aw man, he hadn't thought of that. Naruto sighed, he would have to tell her tomorrow. As the boy walked around the back he noticed their window was open. Curiosity got the better of him and he climbed up a tree to see Ippan curled up on her bed.

His conscience was telling him to leave, but mischief was winning. He grinned as he leaped over to the window and leaned forward. "Hey Ippan!" He whispered rather loudly. "Ippan!"

The lavender haired girl slowly opened her eyes as they widened a fraction. "Naruto? You surprised me."

Naruto's grin widened. "Really?" She nodded. "Yes, dattebayo! This really is the best day ever! I finally caught you off guard!"

"Keep your voice down." She shushed. "My parents are asleep and I don't think they would appreciate a boy hanging out of my window."

"Then let me inside."

"Demanding." He noticed her tone, but saw that she opened the window more for him to come in. He knew that Ippan was always sarcastic, but she meant well most of the time. It was the same for Naruto in regards to his loud attitude, except no one actually appreciated it.

The blond crossed his legs on her bed and she did the same, leaning back on her wall. He saw her raise her brow at his dirty clothing. "So why are you here?" She asked with a yawn.

He leaned forward with a small laugh and an uncontrollable smile. "Do you see anything different?" He asked, trying to put emphasis on the headband Iruka sensei had given him.

Her eyes flickered to it. "Your clothes are super dirty, that's different."

Naruto groaned, she was doing this on purpose. "Yeah, but look!" He tapped his headband excitedly.

"Oh a headband...a headband?" He watched as her expression slowly shifted into an excited smile. "Naruto you passed!" She whispered excitedly.

"Yeah, and I can do multi-shadow clone jutsu!" Naruto said. "I did it today and there was sooo many clones, like a million of me!" He was exaggerating of course, but it seemed to do the trick. Ippan was actually completely interested into what he had to say. Which she usually was, but this time he had really done something worth listening to. Naruto knew she was never impressed with his pranks, but she humored his ideas.

"I wanna see it. Not in my room of course."

"Yeah! I'll show you tomorrow! You're gonna be so impressed."

"I'm sure I will." The older girl said leaning back on her hands. They were both quiet for moment until she said. "So you finally painted the Hokage faces?"

"Oh did you see it?" He asked curiously.

She shook her head. "No, I heard about it from a classmate on my way home. They said they saw a blond kid in an orange jump suit cleaning it off after they got in trouble. I assumed it was you." Naruto frowned as she laughed quietly.

"Ah, it was fun while it lasted." He said, crossing his arms. Naruto suddenly thought about what Mizuki sensei said to him about the nine tailed fox. He was trying his best to ignore that fact at the moment, but you can't very well ignore something that is inside you. What would Ippan say if she knew? Would she hate him? He didn't want to find out.

Naruto blinked when he saw her wave her hand in his face. "Hello, why are you zoning out? Are you falling asleep? What's wrong?"

"No nothings wrong...hey Ippan?"

"Yeah?" Before he could even attempt to speak the bedroom door suddenly opened. They both jumped and Naruto looked up to see a man with shaggy black hair standing at the door.

They both froze and no one seemed to know what to say. "So...there's a boy in your room" he looked him over. "...a dirty boy."

"Dad...this is my friend...Naruto..."

"Hey Ippan's dad." Naruto greeted. He wasn't sure of what else to say.

"You have your friends sneak into your room at one o'clock in the morning?"

"It wasn't voluntary." Ippan paused. "At first."

The man walked into the room, crossing his arms as he towered over the boy. Naruto knew he could probably take the man, but something about him was weird. "Hello Naruto, under different circumstances it would probably be nice to meet you. However, you're in my daughters bedroom laying on her bed fairly close so I'm going to have to ask you to leave." Naruto kept his head down.

"Dad-"

"Why don't you come again tomorrow morning so you can properly introduce yourself."

The blond boy looked up with a surprised expression, before smiling. "Okay! Just so you know I'm Naruto Uzumaki!" Ippans father nodded as the climbed out of the window. "See ya tomorrow!"

Ippan waved as her father raised his brow. "Why didn't he use to the door?"


	16. The Foundation Of Friendship

Sometime after team 7 was formed, Year 7.

"...Sasuke was being a dumb teme and Kakashi sensei was like two hours late! " Naruto had been complaining about his team mates, mainly his sensei and Sasuke. Sakrua was apparently off limits despite her continuous abuse of the boy. At the moment they didn't have any real place to be. They were just waiting until Naruto had to go with his team where ever they usually went. Which apparently were all D ranked missions and Ippan could tell Naruto was sick of it.

"Plus all these D ranked misson are getting annoying!"

Yep.

"Well maybe you're just not ready to get higher ones yet." Ippan attempted to reason.

"That's what Iruka sensei keeps saying, but how am I ever gonna be Hokage if all I ever do is save stupid animals!"

"You shouldn't call them stupid, maybe that's why they always attack you." The girl pointed out which earned her a frown from the blond.

"Can't you just agree with me for once?" Naruto asked squinting his eyes at his female friend.

"Where's the fun in that?" Ippan said. "Besides I think you'd be happy to finally go out and help people."

The boy looked conflicted for a moment. "I am I guess, but it isn't as fun as I thought it would be."

"Naruto, the stuff you're doing now might not be like you hoped. However, the small things can be appreciated just as much." Ippan encouraged. "So calm down and be patient."

"Arghhh...I'll try, but I won't make any promises."

Ippan patted the boys head with a smile. "That's a good boy."

"Ah stop it. I'm not a dog, dattebayo." Though he didn't push off her hand.

"Yeah, you're more like a fox." Naruto paused and glanced over to her. She'd said this a few times before, but now that he knew who he was, the statement had more meaning. "Don't you have training or something today?"

Naruto blinked before frowning. "Ah yeah, but Kakashi sensei is always late! Besides when he actually shows up he makes these dumb excuses like: life was holding me back, sorry."

Ippan laughed at the boys impression of his teacher. Then something dawned on her. "Wait your sensei's name is Kakashi?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Does he have grey hair and a mask?"

"You've met him before?" Naruto asked.

"I think so. He was in the book store reading in the back."

"Yeah that was probably him. He never puts the dumb thing down."

"You should tell him hi for me." The boy raised his brow.

"...why?"

"Cause I think he's cool."

"Ippan do you like him or something?"

"What gave you that idea?"

"You have the same look Sakura has when she looks at the teme."

"I guess."

Naruto looked at her in disgust. "Ew, he's old."

"We could make it work. Age is only a number."

"Agh! Stop it!"

"If we get married then-"

The Naruto squished his hands over his ears. "Lalalalala, I can't hear you!"

Ippan grinned. "Relax, I'm just kidding...only 30 percent serious."

"I can't even look at you the same anymore."

"Oh be quiet." She said before turning to the boy. "Do you want to come over today after your training?"

Naruto furrowed his brow. "Is that really okay? Your mom doesn't like me, dattebayo."

Ippan paused. "Mm, it's fine we need to force your presence onto her until she has no choice but to accept you. Besides my dad thinks you're alright."

"He thinks I like you and gives me judging looks."

"No, it's probably because I've recently explained to him that I've been raising you for the past seven years."

Naruto stared for a moment. "You make our friendship sound weird."

She shrugged. "Being weird _was_ the foundation of our friendship."

...

"You're right."

"I know I am."


	17. Naruto's Future Dad

That time Naruto got a C rank mission, Year 7.

"You finally have a C ranked mission?" Ippan said. Naruto had been complaining about the lack of activity for quite some time now. She was surprised when she saw the boy standing outside of her school with the widest smile she'd ever seen.

"Yes! I'm packing tonight and we leave tomorrow morning!" She could tell that the younger boy was excited.

Wait. "Leaving? Where are you going?" Ippan didn't know he was leaving the village. However, that was to be expected since he was a ninja now.

Naruto paused. "Mm, beats me, but the guy we're suppose to guard is an old drunken bridge builder. All I know is I'm leaving the village for the first time!"

Ippan saw how giddy Naruto was as he laughed, hopping around like a hyperactive rabbit. "So you don't know where you're going. Do you know how long you'll be gone?"

Naruto shook his head seeming to miss the girls change in demeanor. "Kakashi sensei said it could take a while maybe even a whole month!"

"A month?" She asked in thought. What would she do by herself for a month? She it's been years since she's actually spent time alone. Now she wouldn't have the obnoxious boy around for long amount of time. Ippan wasn't sure how to spend time by herself anymore.

She blinked when Naruto waved a hand in her face. "Hello? Ippan I was talking to you. What happened?"

"Oh, I was just thinking." The older girl answered. He tilted his head.

"What's wrong?"

Ippan shrugged. "Nothing really. I'm wondering what I'm going to do while you're gone."

Naruto processed what she said before grinning with a laugh. "No way! You're saying you'll be lonely without me? You'll miss me?"

Ippan narrowed her eyes feeling slightly embarrassed that he was right. "Quit your giggling. Is it that hard to believe?"

"I guess not." He stated honestly. "But I just didn't think you'd ever admit."

"Well you won't ever catch me saying it again." She crossed her arms and refused to look at him.

Naruto smiled, it was nice to know he had a friend that cared. "Hey I know, we'll be meeting at the gate tomorrow morning and you can send me off!"

The girl raised her brow. "Is that okay?"

"Sure! Then I can show off to that teme Sasuke that I have better friends than he does."

Ippan thought for a moment. "Mm, well I do want to meet Sasuke and you're sensei will be there too..."

Naruto's face suddenly turned to disgusted and regret. "You only want to come to see Kakashi sensei. Wait, I change my mind you can't come!"

"Nope it's too late, I want to say hi to my future husband."

"Aw man I shouldn't have said anything, dattebayo." Naruto grumbled uncomfortably.

Ippan grinned at his change in attitude. It was fun to antagonize him.

* * *

The next day

Naruto looked around with shifty eyes they headed toward the gate. He hadn't seen Ippan yet even though she said she was coming. He had hoped he'd see her before they were off, but he also didn't want her to talk to Kakashi sensei. Her calling him her future husband felt awkward. Considering she presumed herself as his mother.

Naruto groaned out loud at the thought of Kakashi being his dad. "No, get it out of my head!"

Sakura furrowed her brow with a frown at his strange antics. "Naruto what are you doing?" _He's acting like more of an idiot than usual._

Sasuke had noticed his sketchy attitude as well. Though he decided not to say anything before. He assumed the blond was just being a hyperactive dobe as usual.

"Naruto you realize the mission hasn't real started until we step foot out the village right?" Kakashi sensei asked.

Said boy looked at his sensei before searching around again. "I'm just looking for someone."

"Who?" Though Naruto didn't answer as he distractedly searched around him.

"The brat is obviously off his rails." Tazuna answered as he drank from the bottle. The boy glared at the old man.

As they near the gate, Naruto's hope of seeing Ippan before he left was starting to reseed. Perhaps she couldn't make it after all. The boy felt a bit of disappointed before he looked up when he heard a familiar voice.

"Hey." The group turned to see a girl a bit more on the chubby side with short purple hair.

Sakura raised her brow. "Who is-"

"Ippan!" The boy yelled running over to her. "I thought you weren't going to make it. I didn't see you anywhere on the way here."

"Well I'm a ninja, obviously." She joked. "Did I make it on time?"

"We we're just about to head out." The girl looked up to the silver haired man that spoke. The look on her face retracted his memory. "Oh you're the kid from the book store."

"You're the mysterious cool guy."

Kakashi blinked. "I didn't know you knew Naruto."

"I know a lot of things." Ippan stated. He decided not to question what that meant. She looked over to Sasuke. "Oh I remember you; We bumped into each other once."

"Hn."

"Yeah, I remember that too. Good times."

"Wait you met Sasuke before?" Naruto asked, scrunching up his face that the boy. Sasuke didn't pay him any mind.

"Well I didn't know it was him until just now." Ippan said. She turned to the pink haired girl staring her down. "I'm guessing you're Sakura."

She paused. "Yeah, that's me. You're Ippan?" Sakura seemed to strain on the girls name. _Who names their daughter Ippan?_

"Yep." She said simply. For now she didn't really like Sakura because she always saw the damage she would cause to Naruto. However, she would keep it to herself and be civil. "It was nice to meet everyone. You too bridge builder guy."

The man raised his bottle lazily to his lips. "Mm, whatever. You're holding us up little girl."

"Hey! Don't be mean to her! I'll beat you up!" Naruto yelled as Kakashi held the back his jacket.

"We can't beat up clients Naruto, that's not how it works."

Ippan could see that she really was in the way of them leaving. "Alright, I'll be going now."

Naruto stopped his rant. "See you Ippan try not to miss me too much!"

The girl rolled her eyes as she waved and they were soon out of sight. _She was going to miss him._

She sighed and turned around. Looks like it was time to learn how to make more friends without being hurtfully blunt.


	18. The Cloud Watching Pineapple Ninja

Naruto was on the Zabuza mission; Ippan was doing her thing, year 7.

"Wow." Ippan said as she tripped over something. She looked down to see a boy laying in the grass with his eyes closed. "I almost fell."

He slowly opened his eyes and peered up at a girl who stared down at him with bright green eyes. She wore a plain back shirt and shorts. "You should watching where you're walking."

She would have countered him, but the boy was right. She wasn't looking. "That's fair I guess."

He raised a brow at her. It seemed as though he wasn't expecting her to answer him in that manner. Ippan decided to sit down next to him. The boy said nothing and looked back up at the sky.

"Hey." The girl said after a few minutes of silence.

"Mm."

"Sorry for being so nosy." Ippan said. "I've been trying to make new friends."

He gave her a confused expression for her to continue.

"My mom says being direct works best." She paused. "I'm contemplating whether or not she's right."

"Oh."

"My only real friend is a ninja out on a mission." She explained. Though she could tell he didn't particularly care. "His name is Naruto."

The boy opened his eyes and gave her questioning look. "The troublesome loud mouth?"

"Oh, so you know him."

"Mm."

"So you're a ninja too right?"

"Yeah..."

"That's cool. Why aren't you off doing ninja stuff."

The boy raised an eyebrow. "What does that even mean?"

"Well Naruto usually complained to me about raking leaves and saving animals that hated him. Do you do anything like that?"

"Yeah." He answered.

Ippan realized that she had been asking a lot of questions which was probably bothering the boy. "I'm annoying you aren't I?"

The boy paused before he answered. "You're kind of troublesome." _Then again girls do talk a lot_ , he thought.

The girl blinked at his blunt statement before smile. "I like that you're honest. I also like your hair, it's wild like a pineapple."

He looked like he wasn't sure how to take that statement. "You're not a normal girl."

Ippan shrugged. "I'll take that as a complement. I'm Ippan by the way."

He waited a moment before speaking. "I'm Shikamaru Nara." He felt like he was going to regret telling the girl his name.

"Oh I guess it's rude not to say my last name. It's Shinpuru." She smiled. "See now we know each others names. We're totally friends now."

"I don't think that's how it works."

"I'm pretty sure that's how it works." He looked at her with an unconvinced expression.

"I don't think your tactics are working if you say Naruto is your only friend." Shikamaru said. Ippan went to speak before closing her mouth.

"Mm your right, but I'm really starting to feel like his mom." It was his turn to be awkwardly silent. Though he had been that way the whole time.

"Hey can I be honest with you?"

"I mean you have been the whole time." He said. At least that's what he thought.

"Good point. I didn't really come here to make friends."

He decided to humor her. "Really."

"Yeah shocking I know. I'm just killing time cause my mom is making me buy flowers for her ladies night."

"Moms can be demanding." Shikamaru agreed. His mother certainly was.

"Yeah. I kind of want to buy some cheap ones just so I can also buy chocolate."

 _She reminds me a bit of Chouji,_ he thought. "I know a place."

"Really?" Ippan asked curiously.

"Yeah, my team mate's family has a shop and they sell flowers."

"Do you think they'll give me discount if I tell them we're best buddies."

"No."

"Oh, okay." Ippan could see that he didn't seem like one to play around, so she decided to get straight to the point. "So where is it?"

"It's called Yamanaka flowers. The place isn't that far from here actually."

"Yamanaka flowers...Oh I know that place. Never been in before though." The girl stood up and patted off her clothes. "Thanks for the help and it was nice to meet you."

The boy thought for a moment. As a first impression she wasn't _that_ bad, even though she talks a lot and asked way to many question. The girl was honest so that was something... "Yeah."

"So if I see you on the street one day I'll most likely come over to bother you. You know since now we're officially friends and all." Ippan said.

"Troublesome," Is all he said.

"Bye new best buddy." She said turning to leave.

Shikamaru sighed as he laid back in the grass. Ippan was an ironic name for such a troublesome girl.


	19. Am I Cool Yet?

Ippan's bedroom: five days before the chunin exams.

"The chunin exams?" Ippan asked with a mouth full of chips. "What's that?" Naruto had excitedly showed her his application, but she didn't know what it was.

"I guess it's the next level of being a ninja and I'm definitely going to take it!" Naruto cheered with a determined punch in the air.

"So how did this come up?" She asked. Naruto didn't seem to have much more information than that he was taking it. Which was good enough for him, but Ippan was curious. She only knew so much about the world of a shinobi.

"Well, Kakashi sensei signed us up."

"Oh."

"Stop making that face." Naruto whined.

Ippan raised her brow. "What face?"

"You know what face. The one you always make when I talk about sensei."

"The heart wants what the heart wants." She stated with a pat to my chest.

The blond shivered. "Ugh, well I actually heard about it from Konahamaru."

"The Hokages kid?" He nodded. "I still don't get it."

"Some guy in makeup was bullying him and I was gonna save him, but Sasuke butted in and made me look bad!" He pouted with a scowl.

"I see." Ippan decided to let Naruto get out all of his pint up feelings. Though, that seemed to be hard whenever the boy was talking about his male teammate.

"He was gonna fight the teme, but then this red head named Gaara showed up. He was kinda creepy." He continued. "Hm, but they all said that they were here for the Chunin exams."

"So you'll be taking it with them then?" Ippan wasn't sure how the ninja were set up during an exam.

"Yeah, I think so. I'll show all of them that I'm way stronger than Sasuke! Then everyone will be asking for _my_ name instead of his!" Naruto exclaimed.

"When are the exams?" She asked.

"Kakashi Sensei said they're five days from now. So I need to train as hard as I can." He said laying back on Ippan's bed. It had become a habit for Naruto to come into her room in the middle of the night to talk about his day. He'd been so busy lately with missions that this was the only time he was able. "Hey Ippan?"

"What is it?"

"Do you think I'm cool?" The girl swallowed her food and looked down at the boy.

"Well..." Ippan paused for moment to think. Naruto always wanted to feel accepted by other people. Asking if he was cool was just another way of wanting to know if he was liked. "What do you consider cool?"

"That's not a real answer." He whined.

"Just answer the question."

Naruto stared at the ceiling before answering. "...Everyone thinks Sasuke is cool."

That was his definition of cool? If that was true then... "No, I don't."

"Aw, Ippan even you?" She could tell that her answer had hurt his feelings.

"Naruto, if Sasuke is your definition of 'cool' I don't think that's what you are."

"You don't have to keep saying it."

"Let me finish." She said, swatting him lightly with her potato chip bag. "I don't know Sasuke that well, but I know he's not talkative. He also seems like he thinks he's better than everyone. You on the other hand are loud, goofy, obnoxious and a prankster. All things I like about having you as friend."

Ippan smiled as he perked up at her words. "So no I don't think you're cool, but you're pretty nice to have around...when I'm bored."

Naruto smile quickly turned to a deadpan which made the girl grin more. "You just had to ruin it, didn't you?"

"If I didn't I wouldn't be Ippan anymore."

"That's true." He said, holding his hands behind his head. "In that case you're not cool either."

"Good." Ippan stretched out her legs.

Naruto turned to her. "I guess I should have expected you not to get mad."

"Was that what you were hoping for?"

"...maybe."

Ippan playfully squinted her eyes. "Mm, you're not a good friend." Naruto gave a cheeky grin with a chuckle. They laid in silence until Ippan spoke. "Hey Naruto, be careful in this chunin exam thing."

"Why do you say that?"

"Cause last time you went somewhere you came back kind of beat up."

"Don't worry, I'll be fine and besides I'm a fast healer."

"Well still, be safe 'cause I probably won't see you until after it's over." She said. Naruto saw that she was serious an nodded. "Well you need to go. If my dad catches you in my room again he said he'll start telling my mom we're dating."

They both cringed. The younger boy climbed out the window and she said 'good night'.

She hoped these exams went well for Naruto.


	20. Gaara's Threat

Basically everyone is in the hospital, one day before the tournament.

Naruto had done the exact opposite of what Ippan had asked him to do. The girl was currently walking up to his hospital room. After the first segment of the exams she had practically lost her hearing from his yelling in excitment. He had made it to the second round. This was great news of course, but now he was unconscious. Apparently he had trained too hard.

She had run into Shikamaru on the street. He'd asked if she'd gone to see him yet. Which she replied that she didn't even know he had been admitted. He offered to go with her being that his own teammate had been checked in as well.

Ninja's don't seem to know how to take care of themselves.

Ippan opened his room door and glanced down at the sleeping boy. "How long has he been out?"

Shikamaru shrugged. "Three days give or take."

The girl sighed. "Fast healer, yeah right."

Shikamaru looked her over before sitting down in a chair next to his bed. He then pulled over the table and set up a shogi board. "Do you wanna play?"

She raised her brow. "I'm horrible at this game."

"So, it's only to pass the time." He said.

"Why aren't you visiting your teammate?" Ippan asked. She knew Shikamaru didn't liked her that much. Of course, that could just be his personality, so maybe she was miss reading him.

Said boy rubbed the back of his head. "I didn't think you'd want to sit in here by yourself. Besides, Chouji said he'd be getting an exam right around this time."

"Aw, best buddy you do like me." Ippan smiled when he looked away feeling a bit uncomfortable.

"Yeah, whatever lets just play." He said.

They played the game, but after losing twelve times in a row Ippan was tired of the game. "I don't want to play any more. I suck."

"Yeah you do." He looked amused.

"Thanks for being honest." The boy raised his brow at her before they both turned when they heard a groan. Ippan saw that Naruto's eyes were opening.

"Ugh, where am I?"

"The hospital. You've been out for three days straight." Shikamaru said. The boy was spaced out for a moment and Ippan counted down.

In three, two, one...

"Three days!" He said throwing off the covers. This seemed to have caught the solemn ninja off guard. "Whens the second part of the competition!"

"Uh, tomorrow!?" He began to freak out and spouted out information that the girl didn't understand. Something about a pervy sage?

"This kid gives me a headache." Shikamaru said with a frown. He looked at Ippan as if she was suppose to intervene somehow.

She rolled her eyes and picked up a shogi piece, beaming it at his head. He responded with "Ak! What did you do that for?"

"You're over there throwing a fit. What did you expect me to do?" The girl paused. "Look, I don't really know how the chunin exams work, but I'm pretty sure you shouldn't spazz out like that."

He quieted down before holding his stomach and groaned. "What's wrong with you now?" Shikamaru asked.

"I'm really hungry...Ippan do you have any food?" He asked hopefully. Naruto knew she always had snacks in that backpack of hers.

"Shikamaru brought fruit." She answered. Naruto pouted.

Said boy blinked. "Oh yeah, I did. I brought it for Chouji, but the doctors said he couldn't have it." Shikamaru pulled out a basket full of healthiness.

"Chouji is here too?" He questioned.

"Don't worry there's nothing wrong with him. He just has a bad case of indigestion." He explained. "Too many ribs." He passed Naruto an apple.

"For shinobi you guys really don't know how to take care of yourselves." Ippan stated bluntly.

"Don't go putting me in the same boat as those two." Shikamaru gave her a half-hearted glare.

"Hey!" Naruto wined. "I was training."

"Yes, _was_ is the key word. For today I think you should stop." Naruto looked like he was going to quip up an argument. "I'm sure all great ninjas took one day off from training, right?"

She looked to Shikamaru and he shrugged. "It's the best thing to do right now. I mean that's what I'm doing."

Naruto scrunched up his face. "Mmm, I guess."

"You know I'm right." She said. They stared each other down and Shikamaru uncomfortably watched. He wasn't use to their antics.

Naruto threw his hands in the air. "Okay, fine you win, dattebayo!" Ippan smiled.

Shikamaru rubbed his head. "You guys are weirdos."

Ippan tilted her head."You could have been a part of it too."

"No."

"Okay, that's fine."

Naruto crawled off the bed and looked out the window. "..So how is Lee doing?" Ippan blinked. She'd heard him say that name before, but hadn't ever met him.

Shikamaru shrugged. "I don't really know, but I heard he's struggling." The blond furrowed his brow.

"Whose Lee?" Ippan asked. "Is he in the hospital too?" Are all of Naruto's friends in the hospital?

"Yeah. Shikamaru do you know where his room is?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah, do you wanna go see him?" The blond nodded. "Alright, I guess. Don't have anything better to do."

Naruto picked up the basket of fruit before going to the door. "After we see Lee we should eat this in front of Chouji." He laughed at his own mischievous plan.

"Wow, that's kind of evil Naruto. I like it."

They headed down to Lee's room and saw that the door was cracked open. Ippan looked at the floor and raised her brow. "Sand?"

Naruto opened the door to see a red headed boy looming over who she assumed was Lee. She tensed up when sand was scattered everywhere. Without even thinking Naruto ran up and punched the boy in his face. Shikamaru yelped and Ippan looked at the ground to see a shadow connecting the both of them.

"Easy Naruto, I'm using shadow possession so if you hurt him you hurt _me_ too."

"Oh sorry." He said.

Ippan watched as the boys face cracked and then regenerated it's self. She was scared and curious all at the same time. The red head was staring and it made her uncomfortable.

"Just what do you think you're trying to do to Lee, huh?" The angry boy snapped.

The red head held scary expression. "I was going to kill him."

Ippan gulped. "Oh god." Naruto glanced to her and he realized how dangerous it was for her to be there. If anything serious actually happened she could get hurt or worse.

"Ippan get out of here now." Naruto said. When the older girl didn't move he lead her towards the door. "It's not safe for you in here."

 _Is it safe for you either_ , she questioned to herself. The girl ran out the room and searched the halls for any type of adult figure. The kid seemed crazy, but maybe he'll listen to some type of authority. Suddenly, she saw a man in a green jumpsuit walking up the hallway.

"Excuse me, sir!" She called as she was losing her breath.

The man looked at her with a smile. "Hello there, what can I do for you?"

"There's this crazy kid trying to fight my friends and kill a patient! There's sand everywhere and the boy is unconscious and-"

"Alright, alright, slow down." The man said becoming more serious. "Which way? What patient and sand you say?"

"Uh, I think his name is Lee or something and this red head had sand all over the boy."

"Lee? That's my student." He said before heading towards the room. Ippan did her best to keep up with him as they neared their destination. The girls eyes widened when she saw the red head attempting to attack Naruto and Shikamaru. The man stepped into the room. "Alright, that's enough. Save your energy for the tournament. You're just wasting it all today, is that what you want?"

Ippan watched his little freak out as the sand went back into the gourd. If the circumstances were different she'd probably thought that was cool. However, he was a psychopath. He glared at everyone in the room and walked to the door.

"I will kill you." He paused and looked at everyone. "I'll kill you all."

Ippan awkwardly stepped out of the door way so that he could get by. She'd usually make a witty quip when something awkward that happened, but she was too scared this time. When he was gone Shikamaru spoke.

"You came just in time." He said and looked visibly relieved.

"Well this youthful young lady told me what happened." The man smiled. "My name is Gai Maito."

"Ippan Shinpuru." She said returning an uneasy smile. "So just to clarify, would he really kill us as in death?"

Naruto knew this was her sarcastic way of saying she was scared. "You don't need to worry about that. Nothing is gonna happen while I'm around." His face told her he was determined.

She could tell that he meant it. "Good and just one more question. Who was that exactly?"

"Gaara." He said with a more serious expression.

"Oh." She sighed. "I really need more normal friends."

"You wouldn't be Ippan if you did."

She laughed despite the circumstances. "That's true."


	21. Bet On It Bet On Me

**I skipped the fights 'cause, you know, everyone has seen it.**

Ippan's family was late to the tournament. It's the day of the chunin exams.

"Ugh, we could have gotten better seats if _someone_ woke up earlier." Ippan's mother said with a huff, flipping her lavender hair in irritation. The woman looked to her husband and he responded with a shrug.

"We're here now." He answered with yawn and scratch of his head.

"That's not the point and you know it."

"We can't all get what we want." This was their daily routine and it usually carried on for a bit longer. Her mother worried fuss about things that weren't all that serious and her father would quip simple responses.

Ippan took this time to look around the arena. They had arrived late, so yes their seats weren't the best, but it wasn't any less exciting. It was her first time attend an event such as this. Ippan had never seen real ninjas in combat before, so this was a new experience. Well, if you count Naruto showing off some of the techniques he learned. Besides that she hadn't seen much shinobi action.

Then there's Gaara.

The girl grimaced. He was scary.

"What's wrong Ippan?" She blinked out of her thought to look up at her father. The girl saw both of her parents staring at her in question.

"Nothing really." She said waving off their concern.

"Are you worried about Naruto?" He asked.

Ippan raised her brow. "No, why?"

"Well, he's not here and you told me he was in this tournament, right?"

She nodded as she looked around. He was right, Naruto wasn't here. The boy was late. "It's just like him to be late to the most anticipated event of the season."

"Maybe he forfeited." Her mother suggested. "He's fighting a Hyuuga clan member and I heard he's a prodigy." Most likely from her gossip group.

"No, knowing him he probably over slept or something stupid." Ippan stated bluntly. Though, it would be a lie if she said she wasn't a bit worried.

Her father nodded. "Yeah, he does tend to show up at unexpected times and places." Ippan froze her fathers eyes glanced to her.

He was referring to the times he spent in her room in the middle of the the night.

"What do you mean by that?" Her mother raised her left eyebrow.

 _Please don't tell,_ She repeated mentally.

"Nothing really, just speculation." He said with a slight smile.

"Mmhm." The older woman narrowed her eyes.

Luckily at that moment, Naruto suddenly slid into the arena screaming. He was yelling something about rampaging bulls, but he was quickly silenced. The Hokage stood up to speak and said a few words. One of the perks of sitting higher up is that she could get a better look at her village's leader. Ippan had never seen him personally, so this was most likely the closest she'd ever get to meeting the man. She noticed Suna's leader was their as well.

Ippan looked down at the contestants and noticed Sasuke wasn't there either. It seemed impractical for Naruto to get there before the uptight boy. No offense to her friend, just a judge on their behavior. Maybe something happened. Curiosity plagued her mind as the girl looked around only to notice a familiar figure sitting in front of her.

It was stalker girl

"Hey!" She tapped on the girl's shoulder. The girl turned and looked at her in surprise. "It's nice to see you on more appropriate terms."

"O-oh um, hello." The girl said with a flustered face. The boy next to her looked at Ippan with a questioning brow. He had small dog in his jacket. Well, that's not weird at all.

"Hinata, who is that?" He asked, looking her over with a curious expression.

"Your name is Hinata? That's nice. Much better than what I've been calling you." Ippan smiled, and Hinata only seemed to get more embarrassed. "Oh, sorry for being rude. My name is Ippan Shinpuru."

The girl seemed hesitant. "Hinata Hyuuga,...b-but you knew that."

"Well now I do for sure." She said with a grin.

"Oh, Ippan." Dog boy said. "Now I recognize you, you're the girl I see with Naruto all the time."

The purple haired girl turned to Hinata. "Whose your cute friend?"

The boy grinned. "I'm-"

"I meant the dog." She interrupted and laughed a little at his lost face. "Ha, your face. I'm kidding, really, what's your name?"

"Kiba and this is Akamaru" He replied as the dog barked in response. "You don't seem like the type to hang out with Naruto."

She shrugged. "It's boring to be with someone identical to yourself. That's why I like Naruto. He's different." Kiba seemed to take this in and Ippan looked to the pale eyed girl. "So is that Hyuuga your brother or something?"

She shook her head. "No, he's my cousin."

"Mm, since you know him. Do you think Naruto has a chance?"

"I-I think-"

Suddenly a ninja interrupted. "There's no way, he's been lucky so far, but he'll never survive this one"

"Yeah, I can't believe he even made it this far." Another said.

Ippan raised her brow at the two. She didn't ask them to speak. "Excuse me, what's are your names?"

The man with his hair covering his left eye blinked. "Izumo, why?"

Ippan ignored him and turned to the other man. "Kotetsu."

"Well Izumo, Kotetsu, my name is Ippan. How about we make a little bet?"

"Ippan." Her mother scolded. "Stop bothering them." The girl raised her brow. They spoke to her first.

"No, it's fine." Izumo said with an amused smile. "What do you have in mind kid?"

"I think Naruto is going to win and you two don't. If he wins you give me 100 yen, if he doesn't I give you both 100 yen. Simple right?"

Kotetsu shrugged. "Mm, I don't feel right suckering money out of a kid."

"Who says you'll win?" Ippan asked with a smirk.

"Fine." It wasn't much of a bet when he knew who would win.

"Anybody else want in?" The girl asked.

"Ippan, stop." Her mother warned.

"I'm in." Her father said, placing a coin into Ippan's hand. She looked at her with a raised brow.

"Himitsu!" Her mother scolded.

"Deal me in too little girl!" Another man said.

Soon more began placing there bets and of course they all put there money on the Hyuuga prodigy. A good portion of people where Ippan sat actually participated in the bet. Surprisingly her father bet on Naruto winning. Hinata didn't place any money in the mix, but she voted on Naruto as well. Kiba said nothing, but she was just going to assume that he wanted him to win too.

* * *

The crowd cheered loud as Naruto had beat Neji into the ground. It was surprising seeing the boy had such a strategy for battle.

"I can't believe he actually won." Izumo said.

"Who knew Naruto could fight so well." Kotetsu added.

"Well, I can't believe how much money I made from this." Ippan said collecting the coins from the crowd around her. "I should make bets more often."

"No, you shouldn't and I can't believe your father condoned this." Her mother said. The man shrugged and sat back.

Ippan was thoroughly impressed with Naruto's fighting performance. She'd never really seen him in full on combat mode and it was interesting to witness. Not to mention the weird stuff around him. What did he call it? Chakra? To her understanding everyone had blue chakra. His was red. Maybe that's just another reason the boy was special.

"Whose the next match?"

"It's suppose to be Sasuke versus Gaara." Kiba answered. "But he's not here, so he'll probably get disqualified."

Disqualified? The girl looked around and people didn't seem very happy about that. She had to admit that she wanted to see Sasuke and Gaara fight. If only to see how the angsty boy handled the creep. She'd never met someone that scared her so much in her entire life. Of course, her life was simple, but that wasn't the point.

Ippan looked down to see the proctor talking to a man and when they had finished she expected the him to say that Sasuke had with-drawled. "We're postponing the match and jumping to the one that would have followed."

"People must really want to see those two go at it." Ippan deduced, listening as the crowd roared in a union of distaste. "Sasuke is getting special treatment."

"It's the most anticipated battle of the whole tournament" Kiba said.

"That doesn't change much, but I'm only here to watch so I guess it doesn't matter." She said. "Who'd be after them then?"

"Shino." Hinata answered timidly. "He's our teammate."

"Well, I wish him luck." Ippan smiled that Hinata returned with a more nervous attitude. She didn't understand why the girl was so shy, but she wasn't one to judge.

Not 10 seconds later his opponent Kankaro with-drawls as well causing yet another uproar. "At least Shino is the winner."

It was starting to get ridiculous. The crowd was getting antsy and no one was going when they were suppose to. The only entertaining fight had been Naruto's and she'd even gotten money out of it. Were chunin tournaments always this unruly? Ippan wouldn't know considering this was her first one. The girl sighed and looked around. Then something caught her eye.

Who was that in the back?

He had on a hood cape and a strange looking mask. His entire body was covered and he was a bit creepy. Did he feel too ugly to be seen by the world? It confused her, but she wasn't one to judge peoples sense of fashion when all she wore was black. She raised a brow when the masked man turned to her. Ippan whipped around quickly. Maybe he didn't want to be seen.

Her attention was averted back to the arena when a girl dropped down to the the stadium with a large fan. "She looks pretty cool. Nice weapon too. "

"She's from Suna." Ippan looked at her father. "She's from the land of wind and the Kazakages daughter."

"How do you know all that?" She asked.

He yawned and folded his arms over his head. "I lived there for a short time before I met your mother here."

She didn't know that. "Well she has to fight Shikamaru. He's kind of lazy, but really smart. He beat me in shogi over a dozen times."

"Ippan, your horrible at that game." He said with a slight grin. She gave a half-hearted glare before turning to the arena as she noticed Shikamaru was in the ring now.

"Yeah, well let's just hope this fight proves to be entertaining."

* * *

Shikamaru forfeited and he had the upper hand. However, his chakra had depleted and he couldn't fight any longer.

"What is going on today with these kids?" Ippans mother asked.

"Mm, it was probably the right thing to do if his energy was dying out." Her father said.

"I'm glad I didn't bet any money this time." Ippan added. "I should have known Shikamaru would forfeit. He seems like the type to do that."

"You'd better not." The older woman warned. "I don't want to hear about my daughter becoming a gambler." Ippan decided to keep quiet. It was better not to say anything else regrading the matter.

After a while it was becoming clear that Sasuke wasn't going to show up. The crowd was getting loud and angry.

"What's taking so long!" Someone yelled.

"Where's the Uchiha!"

"This chunin tournament is really turning into a disappointment."

The girl heard all of these statements and sighed. "People are getting extremely irritated."

Her father didn't seem to mind as he scratched his head. "Let them, there's no point in getting frustrated over things you can't control."

"You're right." She admitted. Ippan looked down at Naruto as he impatiently waited in the center of the ring for his rival. It seemed like the boy was about to be disqualified until Sasuke and his sensei suddenly popped out of wave of leaves.

Soon the two were ready to fight and Ippan would be lying if she said she wasn't excited.

* * *

She didn't know when it started, but the girl was starting to feel nervous. Ippan had felt this way when she met Gaara. At the moment she couldn't place her finger on it, but something wasn't right.

The redheaded boy had been a psycho the entire match and Sasuke was actually impressive. However, Gaara had created some kind of shield and the Uchiha had gotten through it with something called chidori. She had to admit it was cool, but now she was anxious. Gaara had screamed and a strange looking object had forged it's way out of the hole Sasuke had formed in the sphere shaped shield.

"Dad, we should...maybe..go..." Ippans eyes were starting to feel heavy and she couldn't understand why. She wasn't tired so why was it so hard to keep her eyes open. Soon the questions stopped as she blacked out completely.

 **I thought about highschool musical "bet on it" the entire time I wrote this. Himitsu means: secret.**


	22. Demons and Confessions

It was a depressing time in Konoha.

The Hokage was dead.

Ippan couldn't remember much from when she was knocked out, but when she woke up everything was chaotic. Her neighbors house had been damaged by fly away objects and rogue ninja. Everyone was taken to safety and what felt like the most terrifying moments of her life flew by in an instant.

Not much longer after that, all the fighting stopped and it was announced throughout Konoha that the Hokage had been killed. It was hard to believe that Ippan only got to see the man for the first time, hours before his death.

Everyone wore black to commemorate the loss of the third Hokage. Which meant it was a regular day for Ippan.

The girl sighed and sat back against her wall as she listened to the rain in silence. Her father had told her the sky was crying out for the death of the third. It made her feel more sad about the whole ordeal, but she supposed it fit the situation. School had been cancelled and the streets were scares of people. Konoha was in a stand still, at least for today.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the window. She turned and just as she thought, it was Naruto. Ippan opened her window and looked him over. "You really should have brought an umbrella. Now you're soaking wet."

He rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, I know."

His bland statement made her give the boy a questioning look. "What's up with you? No, that was a stupid question. Come in before you get sick or something."

"No, I'm fine out here." Naruto said as he pursed his lips. "I won't be here long. I just have something I need to tell you."

"Well, you can tell me inside." Ippan persisted.

The blond shook his head as water splintered about. "I just can't okay. So will you just listen to me from out here?"

The girl frown at him disapprovingly, but she really couldn't force him to come into her house. "Fine." What was so bad that he didn't want to come in?

"Do you...know about the nine-tailed fox?" He blurted. There wasn't any easier way to go about it.

Ippan furrowed her brow. "Yeah...it killed a lot of people and the fourth Hokage died in the midst of destroying it."

Naruto's face held an expression she couldn't quite describe. "Well that's partly true, but it didn't die, it's right here." He held a hand over his stomach.

The girl blinked. "In your belly?"

"What? No, I mean yes- it's inside of me!" He said trying to get his words together.

Ippan thought about what the boy had just told her. "Wait, did you just say you have a fox demon inside of you?"

"Yes, I did." Naruto couldn't exactly tell what direction this conversation was taking.

"That explains a lot."

"What?"

"I mean it really does, all of the hate and back lash you get from the older villagers. It makes so much sense now." Ippan paused before continuing. "You looked kind of weird during the tournament, did the fox have anything to do with that?"

"Didn't you hear what I said?" Naruto asked with a voice of disbelief.

"Yes and I'm giving you feedback, am I not?" She said with raised eyebrow. "Do you expect me to say, 'I hate you' or 'get out of my sight you creature'?"

"Yeah." He mumbled.

"Well then you're an idiot and all the years we've been friends has taught you nothing." She replied as she poked his forehead. He blinked at her action. "Frankly, I don't understand what brought on the urge to tell me, not that you shouldn't. I just don't get why so suddenly."

"I fought Gaara and...he's like me." Naruto explained. "He has a demon too and fighting him made me realize that I could have turned out like him if I didn't have people like you."

They were both silent before Ippan spoke. "Have you known about this the whole time?"

He shook his head. "No, I found out when I became a genin."

Ippan looked him in his eyes. "I will admit that Gaara does scare me. Yes the fact you have a murdering vessel in side your body is unsettling, but it's the person that matters. You're still you and honestly that's all that really matters to me. So no Naruto, I don't hate you. In fact you're probably the least hated person I know." She smirked at her last statement.

The girl watched in surprise as the boy began to sniff. "Are you...are you crying?"

"No of course not, dattebayo, it's raining..." He wiped at his eyes.

"Right, the rain." She said, reaching out of the window and hugged him.

"I'm gonna get you all wet." He says this despite hugging her back.

"It's okay." She smiled before pulling back. "Now come in, you look like a drowned puppy...fox."

"Was that necessary?"

"Yes."

"Okay, that's fine."

Ippan narrowed her eyes. "You're stealing my words...dattebayo? Ugh, it doesn't sound right when I say it."

Naruto grinned. It was the first time he'd smiled all day.


	23. A Girl That Is Also A Friend

_It was a Sunday in the earlier afternoon._

Ippan looked down at a blank piece of paper with a furrowed brow. It was blank because the girl hadn't written down anything yet. If that wasn't obvious already. Her mother walked into the kitchen and glanced over at the girl.

"You still haven't written anything yet?" She asked.

"No, I can't think." Ippan put down her pencil and sighed. "Well, what can I say? My mind is a blank."

"Yes, and so is that paper." Her mother walked over to the counter and began cutting up vegetables. "You've been putting it off for weeks. Isn't it due soon?"

"Yes." It was her fault, but she couldn't really help it. "I don't know what I want to do when I graduate."

This is how school for civilians worked. Once they got the basic fundamentals of an education, they either branched off into trade or another form of it. Some students had families who had their own businesses. Then there were kids that already had things planned and worked at places like the market or restaurants. However, Ippan wasn't in any of these categories. She had no idea what she wanted to do in the slightest.

"Oh come on, you must have some clue." Her mother persisted. "You could work in trade like your father."

"Yeah, maybe." She said, tapping the pencil on the table.

Ippan was an average teenage girl. She wasn't necessarily bad at anything, but none of her abilities made her stand out, at least from her perspective. She stared at the blank paper for a moment longer before putting it into her backpack.

"I'll figure it out later." Ippan yawned and walked toward the door. Her mother decided not to say anymore and she was grateful for that. It was frustrating enough already trying to think about what she was going to do for the rest of her life. It made her tired and hungry.

She decided to go find something to eat and then go nap in the park. That usually made her feel more relaxed.

She walked down the street and paused at a sweets shop. "All new sugar buns. Naruto might like that one."

Ippan thought about the boy. He had told her a deep secret a while ago. To think that he had been carrying something so evil inside of his body. She had to admit it made her feel uncomfortable, but he was still the same loud mouthed blond kid he'd always been. She now knew the truth, but that didn't change anything and she was determined to keep it that way.

The girl blinked out of thought when she heard her name. "Ippan! Heeeyyy Ippan!" When she turned, Ippan saw Naruto waving at her with a man beside him that she'd never seen before.

Naruto walked up and Ippan spoke. "You're being loud as usual, I see."

He laughed. "Well I can't really help it! I'm just excited, dattebayo!"

She raised her brow. "About what?" She looked to see him wearing a backpack. "Are you going somewhere?"

"Mm, pervy sage is taking me to find some woman and I'm learning a cool new jutsu! I'll be even better than Sasuke's stupid chidori."

"I see..." Ippan looked up to the white haired man. "I'm going to assume you're pervy sage."

Pervy sage sighed. "My name is Jiraiya."

"Oh...I kind of like pervy sage though." Naruto busted out into laughter. Ippan smiled as well.

Jiraiya looked at the children and raised his brow at the purple haired girl. "And who are you kid?"

"Ippan." She stated simply.

"Are you serious? Ippan?" The girl nodded and decided not to comment on his disbelief.

Naruto patted her shoulder with a smile. "Ippan and I have been friends for a long time. Like um...well I can't even remember how long!"

"Me either." She admitted.

Jiraiya looked at the two with a peculiar expression, before smirking "So she's your girlfriend."

"No, I'm a _girl_ that's his _friend_." She said.

Naruto scrunched up his face. "Yeah! Don't make it weird pervy sage. Ippan and I aren't like that."

"Well that's what I said, didn't I?" He said with smirk that didn't seem to want to go away. "It's the same thing I'm sure."

"Don't listen to him. He writes perverted books." Ippan knew that the older man was just teasing them, so it didn't bother her. Though Naruto seemed to be taking his accusations seriously. She decided to play it from the old mans angle.

"It's okay Naruto is a masochist. He likes girls that hit him, so I couldn't be his girlfriend." *cough* Sakura *cough*

It wasn't that Ippan necessarily disliked Sakura she just didn't like how she treated Naruto. Lately she hasn't done much, so it's been less awkward between them.

"Oooh." Jiraiya said with grin. The girl wasn't bad.

The blond looked at the two in confusion. "Maso...what? I don't get it."

"It's nothing." She said, ruffling his hair. "Go train and be awesome."

"Hey, I'm not a kid Ippan." He said. Now pervy sage would see how childish he was treated by his own friends!

"You're younger than me and shorter than me, so yes you are." Ippan smiled and turned to walk away. "See you later Naruto...pervy sage." She heard Naruto laugh and she walked into a restaurant. Naruto was moving on his way with his life, now she needed to figure out what to do with hers.


	24. Job Hunter x Hunter

"Dad are you really gonna do this to me?" Ippan asked with a feeling of disbelief. It was finally happening, but she didn't think it would turn out like this. Her father had found her a job. Apparently her mother believed she needed a distraction from Naruto being absent from the village. Which was only half-way true. She didn't need the blond around to be happy all the time. She had made other friends, but somehow the majority were ninja's as well. What were the odds?

"What? You we're going to have to start working eventually." The man said with a shrug.

"Yeah, but the library?" She asked with a raised eyebrow. "Sounds boring."

Her fathers lip quirked up at her statement. "You'd be surprised." Ippan was confused. What could possibly be interesting about working at place full of books? "It's the Konoha archives, kid." She blinked when he poked her between the eyes.

"Meaning?"

"Shinobi are known to come in and out with information for the Hokage."

"But I'm a civilian."

"Exactly." He said with a wink. That didn't make any sense to her, but there was no point in question him any further. Whatever her father meant would eventually be understood and if it didn't, oh well. The man looked down at his daughter before rubbing her head. "Don't give me that look, kid. Your mother wanted you to work and work you shall."

Ippan didn't argue, whether she had more to say or not made no difference. "Hey Dad?"

"Mm."

"Since the Hokage is dead, whose going to run the village?" She asked.

"Well, the council for now, until they find someone new."

"Who do you think that will be?" Ippan continued. Her father always seemed to have all the answers.

"They'd have to be strong for one and able to make choices for the entire village, not to mention wise." He said. "I'd say a Sannin."

"Sannin...? What's that?"

"Mm, one of three powerful ninjas." Her father yawned. "Can't say it really matters now though."

"Why is that?"

"A lot has happened." He said, without actually making any sense yet again.

Ippan scrunched up her face. "How do you know all this stuff?"

He put a finger over his mouth. "Secret."

Once they arrived, Ippan looked around with skeptical eyes. There was books everywhere, but she wasn't much of a reader so there wasn't anything to get excited about. They stood at the entrance for a moment before an older man walked over in a lab coat and glasses with dark hair and a solemn face. He looked Ippan over with a raised brow before looking up at her father.

"You didn't tell me that she was a civilian."

Her father smiled slightly. "I didn't?"

"Himitsu." The man said with a sigh. "You know what this job is directed towards, don't you?"

"You aren't gonna turn my kid away are you, Mitoku?" Ippan raise her brow at the man. "You complained about the work load, well here's your little helper right here."

"Frankly, I don't have the energy today." He looked down to the green eyed girl. "My name is Mitoku."

"I'm Ippan, nice to meet you." She said as her father waved to her and walked toward the door.

"Alright, well as you can see things have been piling up. Since the Hokage died, Konoha has been more chaotic."

"So...what exactly do you do?"

The man looked down at the girl with no expression. "Himitsu you owe me for this." He mumbled. "I am the head of a cryptology team."

"That sounds cool. So you decry-pt codes and stuff." Ippan said. "Does that mean you're a ninja?"

"Yes." He answered simply.

"Then what am I suppose to do?" She asked. Really Ippan had no idea why her father would pick here of all places to recommend her.

He shifted his glasses. "You," He picked up several folders and placed them in her arms, making her wobble a bit. "are going to organize these folder by the category written at the top and in those categories put them in alphabetic order. Make sure the information inside has the same title as the folder. When you are finished, each category is to be put in chronological order. When that is done, document each section and place them on the shelf.

Ippan looked at all of the scrolls and papers on the table with a gulp. "Is all of that really necessary?"

"Yes, if something is taken or looked at by anyone in the village it needs to be documented. This information could be crucial to a persons life."

"A persons...life?" Ippan had never been responsible for a life before, well, besides her own.

Mitoku saw how unsure she looked. "Do you still believe you can do it?"

She realized that the man was trying to scare her away because she was only an ordinary person. Well that wouldn't work, for now at least. "I think it will be fine."

The man blinked at her response. "Well alright then. Get to work."

"Yes sir." Ippan said as she began to work. It was only organizing papers after all. It wasn't as if what she did would ever become important.

 **Mitoku is that dude that helped decry-pt the code Jiraiya wrote.**


	25. The Sannin and the Pig Lady

Ippan wanted to sigh as she held a box of papers and set them on the table. She had known that this would be boring with not having anyone to talk to for hours. Mitoku checked on her everyone once in a while of course, but he wasn't much of a talker himself. In some cases she had taken peaks at the documents she was suppose to be filing. Mitoku had said they were so important, but all Ippan saw was nonsense that she didn't understand.

She supposed that was exactly why she was right for this job. She was a civilian, meaning that she was clueless and wasn't a liability if anything extreme actually happened. Which probably meant betrayal or something along those lines. Ippan wasn't all that familiar, but she knew stuff like that did happen when it came to ninjas.

As she stacked papers and wrote them off one at a time, Ippan turned when she heard foot stepped behind her. Just as she expected, it was Mitoku checking on her again. "Do you need something?" She asked.

He sipped his coffee and set it on the table. "I need you to get out the late thirds files." The late third, he meant the Hokage.

Ippan tilted her head in curiosity. She never had to take anything out before. "Why?"

"Because their transporting his external files over here since there is a new Hokage is moving in."

"What, really?" Ippan asked stepping up a ladder looking for the thirds last name. _Sarutobi_ , she repeated to herself. "Who is it?"

"Lady Tsunade." He said casually.

"Lady Tsunade." She repeated. She'd heard that name before. Maybe from her father. Ippan grabbed the large files of the third and carefully climbed down the ladder. She didn't want to kill herself over some paperwork. When she was back on the floor, Mitoku spoke.

"Oh that reminds me, take out her file as well. We'll need to bring somethings up to the Hokage's head quarters."

"Oh, okay." Ippan was about to begin looking before she stopped in mid-step. "Wait, we?"

"Well not _we_ , just you."

The younger girl shook her head. "Wait, I'm confused. What am I doing exactly?"

"It's simple, really. You're taking these," He held up the files as an example. "and bringing them up to the Hokage's office."

Ippan furrowed her brow, not quite understanding. "But aren't only, you know, important people suppose to go up there?"

"You're not going all the way, another ninja, Genma, will intercept and make sure you have everything intact before taking it. Someone else will bring the late thirds documents here and you file those, simple."

"If it's so simple then why don't you do it?" Ippan asked with a raised brow. "You're the ninja here."

"Because."

"Because what?" She persisted.

"I'm your boss and I don't want to."

Ippan paused at his answer. She supposed that his honesty was commendable, but she was still conflicted. Ippan was only a civilian and frankly not all that special. She'd heard only important people went up. However, if all she was doing was going half way then she guess that was alright.

"Okay fine." She finally said. "When do I go?"

"Now, if possible." Mitoku sipped his coffee. "They're moving the late thirds things into storage so you should go before it gets crowded."

"Alright." She said. Ippan quickly went down the isle to find Lady Tsuande's file and carefully placed it into a container. She then put it into her book bag before heading out. Ippan was still contemplating Mitoku's reasoning for making her go, but also her father's for getting her this job. Though it had been over a month since she started. Time does fly by fast.

Speaking of, it had been a long time since she had seen, her loud blond friend. Ippan wouldn't lie, she did miss him. She'd been talking to Shikamaru more and made friends with his teammate Chouji. He had quite a taste for food too. Ippan appreciated that. Ino was a bit too concerned with her looks among other things, but she spoke her mind and Ippan respected that.

Ippan walked down the street and saw the same boy she'd been think about. No, it wasn't Naruto, sadly. It was Shikamaru and what looked like his father. It wasn't something a person could miss. The boy was like a mini version of the older man. They walked the same, which made Ippan smiled.

She called out to them. "Hey, Shikamaru!"

The boy stopped as did his father, he turned around to her. They waited until she caught up and Ippan greeted them. "Hi."

"Hey." He greeted shortly.

"Hi, Shikamaru's dad." Ippan said looking up at the older man.

The older man looked amused as his son sighed. "My name is Shikaku."

"Well I'm Ippan, I'm your sons best buddy."

"Really, I don't think Shikamaru has ever mentioned that." Shikaku said glancing over to his son, who looked at Ippan tiredly.

"Would you stop telling everyone that without my permission?" The boy asked.

"What? I thought you were finally understanding that our relationship is too strong to hide."

"There you go with that weird stuff again."

"Tch, Shikamaru you can't fight it. Obviously we've met today because we're fated BFF's."

"Troublesome, your name doesn't match you at all."

Shikaku watched his son in amusement. "So Ippan where are you headed?"

"Well Mr. Nara I actually have a job to do at the Hokages office."

This seemed to catch Shikamaru's attention. "I thought you worked at the library."

"I do," She stated simply. "but apparently that's not all I'm doing."

"You're a civilian, aren't you?" Shikaku asked. Ippan nodded. "I see."

"I'm suppose to give them documentation on Lady Tsunade?" It sounded more like a question than a fact. "After that I have to go back and file some other stuff."

"Who is them?" Shikamaru asked.

"Mm, Genma, he's suppose to meet me." Ippan said, as they stopped in front of the building. "You know I've never been here before."

"Well come on." The older man said as they walked up the stairs. It was strange being in such an important place, but also exciting. As she was walking she heard a loud familiar voice. When they made it to the top Ippan was bit surprised to see Naruto standing there despite hearing him. She hadn't seen him in over a month.

The boys frown turned to a smile when he saw her. "Ippan!" The blond came over and hugged her.

The girl returned his gesture. "Hey Naruto."

"What are you doing here?" He asked.

"I've actually got a job to do."

He looked at her curiously. "A job? You work now?"

Before Ippan could say anymore a man appeared out of mid air and stood in front of her. She looked him over and realized it was the man who proctored the chunin exams. He held a twig in his mouth as he looked down at her. "They told me someone would be bringing the paperwork, are you Ippan?" He seemed to be judging her with his easy going eyes. Ippan didn't let that deter her.

"Yeah, hold on a second." She pulled off her backpack and handed him the container. "Here."

"Thanks kid." The man said looking over the box. He took it and zipped away.

"Wow Ippan you have a job? Do you work here?" Naruto asked in disbelief.

She shook her head. "No, at the library. I'm only suppose to sort papers, but somehow I ended up here today." Ippan looked up at the blond woman staring down at her. "Hi."

"Hello little girl." She said looking her over. "This is your friend Naruto?"

"Yep, my best friend." The boy said with a proud smile.

"Sorry to break your heart Shika." Ippan said looking at the young Nara.

"Would you stop saying things like that?"

Naruto blinked. "What?"

"It's nothing, Shikamaru just can't face the facts."

"I didn't-"

"Anyway," Ippan interrupted. "It's nice to meet you ma'am."

She looked at the young girl with an entertained expression. "Like wise..."

"Ippan Shinpuru."

"Tsunade." She said before catching sight of Shikaku. When they began to talk Shikamaru began to whisper.

"So whose the blond girl and why is she talking to my dad like she's his boss?"

"Oh she's going to be the new Hokage." Ippan answered. The boy seemed shocked.

"And she's no girl, shes actually an old lady in her fifties." Naruto whispered.

This was something Ippan did not know. "Wow, she's aged _really_ well."

"Well I'll see you again soon, no doubt." Tsunade said as she and the unknown lady with a pig walked down the stairs.

"Yes my, lady." Shikaku said.

"Come on." Naruto said, pulling the older girl to follow them.

"Where are we going?" She asked with a raised brow.

"You didn't know? Sasuke's in the hospital."

Ippan blinked. "Really?" It wasn't like she didn't care. Sasuke was Naruto's teammate and therefore she felt _some_ obligation to be worried. However, she didn't know him.

Naruto sighed seeing that he would have to use other methods. "And Kakashi sensei."

"Oh no, why didn't you tell me my husband was ill." The blond scrunched up his face.

"I knew you would say that." The boy paused. "I thought he was your _future_ husband?"

"A lot has happened since you've been gone, Naruto."

Naruto furrowed his brow. "Like what? You didn't even know he was hurt."

"I felt a disturbance, but sadly I had to work." He deadpanned and Ippan grinned, before looking at Tsunade who seemed to be listening to them. "So are you going to help them?"

"Yeah! She's got healing abilities! Isn't that great!" Naruto sounded so hopeful.

"That's good." Ippan said, looking at the older woman gratefully. "Well I'd love to go too, but I have work to do. Mitoku will be bothered if I skip out."

"Aw, but we're just now seeing each other again!" Naruto whined.

Ippan poked his forehead protector. "Hey, I don't get to complain when you go off for months at a time. So you should do the same for me."

"True." He grumbled as she rubbed his head.

The girl blinked. "Hey, I think you got a little taller."

Naruto seemed to brighten at this. "Really?!"

"Yeah, but you're still shorter than me." Ippan grinned before looking at Tsunade. "Hey, take good care of my husband for me."

"I'll try my best." She said putting a hand on her hip. The girl was a funny little thing, she would admit that.

"See you later Naruto." She paused and looked at the short black haired woman. "Pig lady."

"Ah, I didn't introduce myself." She said with a smile. "I'm Shizune and this is Tonton." The pig oinked.

"Oh." Ippan said before turning on her way.

"I'll come by later tonight!" Naruto called.

People began to look at her after his statement and she walked a bit faster. That was probably something you shouldn't yell out to the public.

* * *

 **Today is my birthday. I'm nineteen! :)**


	26. While You Were Sleeping

Apparently the fifth Hokage had taken a liking to Ippan because she had asked the girl to bring anatomy books to the office personally. Ippan supposed that she should feel honored, but it was a bit of a walk going back and forth between the library and the Hokage's office. Though the library could get boring being there by herself. Ippan stretched as she walked down the stairs of the Hokages building.

Ippan wasn't sure what about her was so funny, but Tsunade seemed to find everything she said amusing. Well, it didn't matter. If someone in power liked her then she was on the right side of the line. Most people found her annoying to talk to since she usually said whatever came to mind. The girl yawned and looked up to see a familiar face coming into view. He wore a green jump suit with his headband tied around his waist, similar to Gai sensei.

She blinked. It was the boy from the hospital a few months back. His name was Lee or something like that. She decided to call out to him. "Hey! You!" The boy turned his head and she saw that he was supporting himself with a crutch. Ippan walked over to him rather making him come to her.

"Hello." He said, looking her over. Perhaps trying to remember if they had ever met.

"It's Lee, right?" The girl smiled at him.

He nodded. "Yes it is. Forgive me, but I don't believe we have ever acquainted before."

"No, you probably wouldn't know me. I saw you while you were sleeping." Ippan said in a matter of fact tone.

Rock Lee's eyes widened. "When I was sleeping?" It seemed as though the girl didn't realize how that sounded. However, Lee was taking her statement a completely different way. "I didn't realize I had such an admirer!"

Ippan paused. "Wait, what?"

"I have to admit it's strange that you would watch me sleep, but I'm flattered nonetheless!" He said with a smile.

"I don't understand what your-"

"However, I have to decline, you see my heart belongs to another." Lee said with a determined nod.

The girl put up her hands to stop him from going any further. "Wait, wait, wait. What are you declining exactly?"

Lee blinked. "Aren't you confessing to me?"

"No..." They were both silent. "I meant that I saw you sleeping in the hospital when I visited with Naruto. He's my best friend."

"When you were visiting with Naruto..." He trailed off. "I see now that I've made an embarrassing mistake."

"It's cool, but I gotta say that I'm pretty insulted that you rejected me. I think I'm pretty awesome." Ippan joked with a easy going grin. Though the boy didn't seem to notice.

"No! I didn't mean to insult you!" Lee assured "It's not say that you are unattractive or-"

Ippan laughed. "Calm down, I was only kidding. Not about me being awesome though, that's completely true." She saw a slight embarrassment in his expression. She decided to extend her hand to him. "I'm Ippan Shipuru."

He took her hand. "Rock Lee, it's a pleasure to meet you."

"Same. I think this is one of the weirdest ways I've introduced myself to someone." Ippan said with a wide grin.

"I apologize for that." He said.

Ippan raised her brow. "Apologize? No way, you're funny. I like it."

He was funny? Lee suppose that was a good thing. "So you are a friend of Naruto's?"

"Yep, number one." She said putting up her index finger. "Of course I haven't been seeing him lately, so I'm probably number two now. I think he's cheating on me with Sasuke."

Lee raised his left eyebrow. Cheating with Sauske? "I believe he's mentioned he had a close friend in Konoha. I didn't know it was you."

"Yeah, that's me." Ippan said with a lazy yawn. "It's eight years running."

"If that's so then I don't think Naruto would abandon you for Sauske." Lee said and Ippan grinned. He was taking her simple statements seriously? He was hilarious.

"I don't know, I'm easily broken." The girl said with a fake dramatic sigh, before peeking up at the boy with a quirk in her lips. "I think we should become friends so my discouraged heart is mended."

"Of course!" He said with a determined smile, catching Ippan off guard. "The importance of friendship is to build each other up and I believe we can do that."

 _Oh this kid is precious_ , she thought. "Cool, well I gotta get going, but I'll see you around."

"You as well." Lee said.

As Ippan turned to leave she spoke. "Don't be discouraged, okay?"

He didn't understand for a moment before he glanced down to the crutch supporting him. He gave a firm nod and Ippan waved goodbye before walking off.


	27. A Secret Emergency Message

"Miiiitoookkuuuu." Ippan said as she whined out. "Why do I have to be here so early?"

The girl looked up at the man who drank his tea with a casual expression. The sun was barely even up. She didn't understand why he'd make her come in at such an outrageous time.

"You know exactly why." Is all he said.

And of course she did. Sometimes Ippan was a slacker and didn't come into work on time. Other times she'd take longer breaks than she was supposed to. She wouldn't make up any excuses, Ippan could be very lazy when she felt like it. Mitoku was laid back and she took that for granted. Now as punishment he'd asked her to come in at five a.m. to finish all the work she'd fell behind on. If not then she didn't need to work here. Since her father got her the job she didn't want to get fired.

"Yeah, but I'm tired and stuff." She complained half-heartedly. Ippan yawned and scratched her bed head.

"Well, you should have thought about that before you ditched to go play."

"I didn't play, I ditched to go eat."

"It's all the same for you." Mitoku said closing his eyes. She wasn't going to argue with that. "You work at a moderately fast pace so it's not as if you can't catch up."

"Alright, I get it." Ippan grumbled. She picked up a hand full of files and went to move them. She was put off by a stack of books on the table. "What is this?"

Mitoku stared it for a moment before sighing. "Ah, I knew they would forget some."

"Forget what?" She asked flipping open some of the pages. It was about chakra points in the body. She tilted her head at the diagram. Ippan had no idea there were so many.

"The ninja who came here earlier. They were supposed to grab all of them, but it seems they left these."

"Oh." Is all Ippan said before looking up at the older man. He glanced to her, looking as if he was contemplating something.

"Alright, you go take them." Mitoku said.

"Take what? The books?" Ippan said pointing to them. "Are you sure? Don't you want me to work on these files?"

"They'll still be here when you get back." He paused before pointing to the books. "These are for the fifth Hokage and if she needs them there most likely important."

"If I do this then will I be off the hook?" The young girl asked hopefully with a smile.

"No." Ippan's smile dropped.

"Please, Mitoku! You know I'm your favorite employee."

He deadpanned. "You're my only employee, in this department anyway."

"Aw, you know you love me." She said, picking up the book and packing them into her bag. Ippan walked towards the door. "I'll be back!"

"You'd better or you'll be finding another job." He said waving a lazy hand to her before walking back to his office.

She saluted him with a smirk. "Will do, boss."

He always threatens to fire her, but never actually does it. Yeah, she was definitely his favorite worker or perhaps in the top five. Ippan looked at the sky and saw that the sun was barely up and this made her tired. As soon as she got home she was going to take a long nap. Just thinking about it made her want to sleep.

She yawned and made her way up the stairs to the Hokage's office she looked around for someone to relieve the books off her hands. However, she realized that it _was_ very early so her expectations were lowered. Meaning that she really could just waltz up the stairs.

 _Oh well,_ she thought. Ippan would just go up there herself. She made it up the stairs and the girl knocked on the door of the Hokage's office before coming inside. "Hey, um, fifth Hokage? I got books some shinobi left behind..." She trailed off as she walked inside. There she saw the fifth and two other ninja who seemed to be in the middle of a serious conversation.

They looked back at her and Ippan nodded awkwardly. "Yeah, I'll just leave these...here." She placed them on the floor.

"Oh hey, its the little gambler." One of them said.

Ippan raised her left eyebrow. "Huh?"

"Don't you recognize us?" The other said.

The girl took a moment before it came to her. "Oh I remember, you guys are from the chunin exams. Izumo and uh, Kotetsu."

"You know her?" Tsunade asked.

"Yeah." Kotetsu said with a bit of a pout. "She won money off of us."

"Don't be dramatic it was only 100 yen." Ippan said with a shrug.

"Almost everyone in our section participated." Izumo stated. "What did you do with that money anyway?"

"I spent it on snacks." Everyone was quiet for a moment.

"That makes sense." He finally said. Ippan would have tried to be insulted by that statement, but she was too tired to care.

"Well, I'm gonna go now." Ippan turned toward the door.

"Wait, Ippan." The girl looked back at the fifth. Did she do something wrong? "I need you to do something important for me"

"Me?" The girl pointed to herself in disbelief. "You want _me_ to do something important?"

"Yes, is that a problem?" The older woman looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"I guess it would depend on what it is." Ippan paused. "But you're the Hokage so I'd have to do it either way."

Kotetsu nodded. "That's true."

 _Yes, she'll work just fine,_ Tsunade thought with a smile. "You're well acquainted with Shikamaru, aren't you?"

"Yeah, we're best buddies. Why?" Ippan asked.

"I need you to deliver a message to him. Do you know where he lives?"

"Yeah, I do...you want me to go to his house?" This must really be important if she had to go where he lived. "What's the message?"

"Tell him that's he's been summoned by the Hokage and to come here immediately. It's an emergency."

Ippan looked up at the woman curiously. An emergency? Something bad happened? The girl shook her head and decided to keep the questions to herself. Shinobi business should stay with shinobi.

"Alright, I'll be on my way." Ippan turned around and walked out the door. If it was an emergency then shouldn't someone more capable go to Shikamaru? Perhaps she was sent on these jobs simply because she was a civilian. Maybe she wouldn't be a liability if anything happened. Now she wished she'd asked what was going on. No, no, if it was meant for her the fifth would have told her from the start.

Well, if it was an emergency she should probably move a bit faster than this. Ippan trotted down the steps and jogged down the street. She'd walked with Shikamaru a few times up to his house, but never actually went inside. Before she knew it she'd made it to their home. Ippan walked up to the door and rang the bell. She'd wondered if anyone would answer considering how earlier in the morning it was. After a moment someone she didn't recognize came to the door. Ippan assumed that it was Shikamaru's mother. The woman looked at her with a smile though she seemed confused.

"Hello there? What can I help you with?" The woman said, looking over the girl. The smaller girl had a messy purple bed head, was a bit over weight and clothed in all black. She could only guess what the girl was doing at her door.

"Hi, I'm here with a message for Shikamaru from the fifth Hokage." She said, trying to sound professional. Despite not knowing what she was doing in the slightest.

The woman blinked. "Oh, I didn't realize you were a shinobi." Frankly she didn't look the part.

"I'm not," She stated bluntly. "but the fifth said since Shika and I are best buddies. I should give him the message."

The woman blinked. "I see, well I'll go get him for you." She went back inside and Ippan mentally kicked herself. _Man, I forgot to say my name._

Ippan stood awkwardly outside the door waiting for the boy. When Shikamaru finally came to the door, he deadpanned. "I knew it was you."

She tilted her head. "You did?"

"Yeah, only one person calls me 'best buddy'." He said with solemn expression.

"Aw, you know we have a deep connection." The girl made emphasis by holding a hand to her heart.

He rolled his eyes but didn't deny it. Yes, accept your fate! "Yeah, whatever, so what's the message?"

"Oh, the fifth Hokage has summoned you and she says it's an emergency. I don't know what exactly." Ippan said. "But when you find out could you tell me?"

Shikamaru pursed his lips ignoring her last statement "Well if it's an emergency I guess I'd better get going." He turned to go back inside.

"Oh, congrats on becoming a chunin!" Ippan said. She'd heard it from Chouji when they were exchanging coupons on a barbecue meat sale.

The boy sighed. "Yeah, thanks." When he went back inside, Ippan stretched. Well she'd better get back. Mitoku might get mad if he thinks she simply skipping out which wouldn't be the first time. Hopefully whatever was wrong wasn't serious. She was sure everyone would work out.

Oh, how wrong she was.


	28. No Sympathy for the Uchiha

So it seemed as though Shikamaru and several other genin were sent on a retreaval mission to get Sasuke. Ippan had no idea why he left, but apparently he did and it was a big deal. People say that he left with Orochimaru the Sannin that went rogue or something like that. Naruto went along with them as well and Ippan knew that it meant a lot to him. He talked about Sasuke all the time whether he wanted to be stronger than him or how annoying the Uchiha could be. Nevertheless, the girl knew they were friends whether they admitted it or not. So the fact that the boy left really must have hurt him.

Now the young ninja squad had returned. Though, no one had told Ippan if the mission was a success. She really wasn't even suppose to know Sasuke was gone. Ippan had overheard Mitoku talking to someone about the situation as she pretended to do her work. Once she had finished her work for the day, Ippan walked out into the busy streets and heard a lot of commotion and chatter.

"Did you hear, all those genin were brought to the hospital."

"Oh yeah, they were all hurt badly."

"I heard some of them might even _die_!"

"No! Really?"

Ippan looked back at the women who were speaking to one another. Die? There was no way Naruto could die. He had a demon inside of him. As far as Ippan knew demons were indestructible. However, he has been hospitalized before from exhaustion...maybe he could die. And if that was the case for him, what about the others? The girl was starting to become worried and she hurried along to the hospital.

She asked for Naruto room number at the check in desk and scurried down the hall. Once Ippan was in front of the door she opened it without hesitation. The girl tilted her head and the sleeping boy. He was wrapped up like a mummy. She sat on the edge of his bed and looked out the window.

"You suck at keeping promises, Naruto. Whatever happened to being careful."

"Mm?" Ippan looked down to the delirious boy as he blinked his eyes. "What?"

"I said you suck." The girl said. "But I guess I'm glad you're safe."

"You guess?" Naruto sat up wincing a bit with every movement.

Ippan noticed this and frowned. "You don't have to get up for me to lecture you."

"I'm fine." He stated, but he didn't sound fine at all.

"Not only do you suck, but you're a liar too." She stated without a blink of the eye. "You look like the living dead you know."

Naruto furrowed his brow. "Are you mad at me or something?"

"No."

"Now whose the liar?"

"I said I'm not." Ippan stated firmly. "I was just worried...I heard that some of you were hurt badly and I thought maybe you had..."

Naruto grimaced, seeming to understand where she was going with her statement. "I'm actually not sure how the others are doing. I just woke up."

"Oh." They sat in silence and it was much too serious for her tastes. Ippan wanted to say something to liven up the mood. But what could she say?

'Don't worry your friends might not be dead'?

Ippan wasn't the best at comforting others around her. Sure, a few word of encouragement every now and then, but this was way out of her league. She was a normal girl and for the most part she did normal girl things. Death and rogue shinobi wasn't on her list of advisable comforts.

She was saved from her own thoughts when the door opened and Shikamaru stood with his arms crossed. "Oh, so you were up. They told me you were sleeping."

"Shikamaru!" Naruto called in a more relieved voice. His squad leader was alive and well. The boy came over and sat down next to Ippan.

The girl tilted her head and looked him over. It seemed as though he had been roughed up a bit and his finger was broken. She noticed that his eyes were a bit red and puffy. Perhaps he had been crying. Aw, her best buddy was sad? "Why are you staring at me like that?" Ippan blinked out of her examination to see the boys furrowed brow.

"Oh...uh, just got lost in your eyes...there, uh, awesome." The boy looked at her with a deadpan as if he was expecting an answer like that.

"Well find your way out because it's weird."

Ippan saluted him. "Will do." Shikamaru shook his head and turned to the pitiful looking blond. He seemed too tense to even ask if his friends were okay.

"You can relax Naruto. Everyone is going to be just fine."

Naruto cracked a small smile and let out a breathe he was holding. "That's good news. At least everyone is okay..."

"So...Sasuke is..." Shikamaru couldn't even seem to get it out.

"Yeah, he's gone." Naruto said. Ippan frowned. They both looked solemn and all she could do was keep quiet. To be honest, she didn't even know the boy. Not one bit. Of course she did come in contact with Sasuke once in while, but that didn't mean anything. If she predicted correctly, Ippan knew that everyone would be shocked and devastated about this turn of events. Sasuke was the last Uchiha and supposedly a gem for his age. Of course she was only repeated what she'd heard other people say. However, even after hearing all this, she still couldn't bring herself to...care? No, that wasn't the right word. Perhaps, sympathize. Yes, that was it.

She didn't feel sorry for the boy.

Suddenly the door opened and the fifth and Sakura were standing there. Ippan glanced to her friend as his eyes looked pained. "Sakura I-"

"It's a beautiful day outside," She interrupted. "You should open your curtains and enjoy it." The girl did just that and kept her eyes outside.

"Sakura I'm not going to give up." Naruto said.

"It's okay now, you don't need to." She said.

"Sakura he tried-" Shikamaru defended.

"No, I made a promise as a shinobi and what kind of ninja would I be if I broke something so important." Naruto said before giving a wide grin. "I mean it, I won't give up." Finally Sakura turned around and gave a sad smile.

Ippan sighed and stood to her feet."Well, this mood is way too emotional for my tastes."

Naruto blinked. "What are you leaving already."

"Mm, no, my work is done for today so I'll stick around, but I'm hungry." She said. "Besides, I can't just lounge around on your bed."

"Well why not? It not like we haven't stayed in the same bed before?" Everyone paused and between the two of them.

Ippan took a deep breathe. "I'm not even going to bother explaining why what you said was inappropriate."

"What did I say?" Naruto asked looking more lost than ever.

"Well while you let that sink in, I'll be getting some food in my stomach." The girl walked out the door with her friend still questioning her. She was half way down the hall when someone called to her.

"Hold on, Ippan." Said girl looked back at lady Tsunade. "I was going to say this later, but since you're already here I'll just say it now."

She tilted her head at the older woman. "Um...okay."

"I'd like you to work for me." Ippan paused to see if she'd actually heard her right.

"I'm sorry, could you repeat that?"

Tsunade quirked her lips. "I said I'd like you to work for me."

"Um...Doing what exactly? If you want me to fight you're out of luck cause I suck at being active." She said bluntly.

The older woman waved her off. "No, no, I had something else in mind. I'm told that you organize files at the Konoha archives. I'd like you to assist in my paperwork along with some other duties."

"Assist? I though the pig lady- I mean Shizune, was an adviser right?"

"Yes, however, she is needed more in the medical field. My paperwork is going to pile up with all of the shinobi mission statements and such."

Ippan furrowed her brow. It wasn't as if this offer wasn't amazing, but she could understand why it was being given to her. "With all due respect and stuff, you do realize I'm a civilian right? Shouldn't you give this job to someone more qualified?"

Tsunade smiled. "I've been watching you, Ippan. You may not be a shinobi, but you're not soft spoken and you don't ask questions. At least not the important ones. You're close friends with several genin and you being a civilian is a perfect scapegoat. Konoha has enemies and not many would suspect civilians to be involved in war affairs. Not to say that will ever happen."

"So I'd be like a decoy?" Ippan asked.

"In a way. You don't have to say yes if you don't feel up to the task." The woman said. The girl thought for a moment.

"I guess that might be fun." Ippan muttered to herself. "Do I get paid?"

"Of course." Tsunade looked down at the girl with a different expression. "I've also been told you're a bit of a gambler."

Ippan's eyes went up to the fifth. "Oh yeah, not really...well a little, but don't tell my mom. I told her I'd stay away from that sort of thing." Ippan was missing the fact that she had just admitted to the Hokage that she was a gambler.

The blond woman smiled. _I think this will work out just fine._


	29. Desert Panda Besties

"Ippan are you sure you really want to work under the Hokage?" The girls mother asked.

"Well, technically everyone works under the Hokage." She said with a matter of fact tone. Ippan's mother deadpanned.

"That's not what I meant and you know it." Ippan had decided to tell her parent's that she was assisting the Hokage now. It wasn't an important job, but she was much closer to the fifth then she ever thought she would be. Ippan broke the news to them at the breakfast table. It wasn't like it was bad news. However, working for the Hokage is a job bigger than anything she'd ever dreamed would happen to her. "They're all shinobi. It could be dangerous. Something could happen to you."

"Mom, the only danger I'd be in is getting a paper cut."

The woman looked to her husband for support. Ippan noted that he didn't seem surprised at all by the news. Rather he somehow expected it, but that was impossible. Her father sipped his tea and leaned back in his chair, scratching his dark hair. "I think this is a good opportunity."

"Himitsu." Her mother called with narrowed eyes.

Ippan glanced to her father for his response. It was always this way when they 'argued'. "Ikari." He replied before quirking up his lips. "It is pretty ironic though. My kid working for the highest authority in the village. _And_ a Sannin no less." He seemed to be talk more to himself than anyone else.

Said girl tilted her head. "What do you mean by that, dad?"

Her father smiled and poked her between the eyes. "Nothing important kid, I'm proud of you."

Ippan wanted to question him further, but she knew he'd never tell. So she decided to leave it alone and grinned at him. "Thank's dad."

"How did you're boss take you leaving the library?" Her mother asked, as she decided not to turn this into a debate.

"Oh Mitoku?" Ippan gave an exaggerated sigh. "He was devastated. Said that he'll never find anyone as impressionable as I am."

Her mother raised her right eyebrow as if she didn't believe that. "Really?"

"No, not really." The girl picked up her plate and started to rinse it out in the sink. Ippan looked up at the clock and picked up her bag. "I'd better get going. I'll see you later."

"Say hello to Naruto from me." She glanced back at her father who was no longer looking in her direction. Ippan was grateful that he actually liked her friend. When she closed the door behind her she began to think about the boy. If she hadn't become friends with him none of this might not have happened for her. If she had left Naruto out in the rain that day her life might have been different. _She_ might have been different.

When she reached the Hokage's building she was up the stairs and she furrowed her brow. Ippan wouldn't lie and say she never got surprised, because she did. Though she was hard to shock. However, the boy in front of her made her a bit nervous. Ippan held a guarded demeanor as she gripped the straps of her backpack. He wasn't looking at her so perhaps she could just ignore him. That plan was quickly scrapped when the panda eyed boy gazed up at her.

She stopped a few feet away from him and stood quietly for a moment. "Um, hello. Long time no see." He looked at her with a straight faced expression. Perhaps he didn't remember her. She doubted that she could ever forget him. Gaara, that was his name.

"I know that last time we saw each other you were probably having a bad day, but I'm sure that's all behind us now." His expression didn't change so maybe not. Aw man, what if it was a mistake to even bring it up?

Finally the boy spoke. "You were in that hospital room." Is all he said. Ippan noted that he didn't sound as sinister as a few months ago. Obviously he wasn't a bad person anymore if he was allowed into the leaf village after causing so much trouble. Not to mention the Hokage's building.

"Yes, I was." She answered simply, but still a bit on guard. "You don't know me though, most people don't. I'm Ippan."

His arms were folded and he didn't blink. Ippan noted this along with all the other weird things about him, but maybe he couldn't help it. Naruto did say that he was the same as Gaara. Not personality wise of course. That meant he had a demon too. "I am Gaara of the desert. Are you acquainted with Naruto?"

Ippan nodded. "Yeah, besties for life." Gaara paused at her strangely phrased statement. He didn't know what 'besties' meant. "We're really good friends." She reiterated with a grin.

"I...see." The girl could see that he wasn't much of a talker and that was alright she supposed. He was a bit freaky, but weirdos usually had the best personalities. At least from her experience. Hopefully she wasn't proved wrong.

Ippan shifted a bit. "So did you need to see the Hokage or..." If she was going to be the fifth's assistant then knowing this type of thing would be important right? She was probably just being nosy.

"I've finished my business." He stated. Gaara looked her over. "Are you a shinobi?" His voice was quiet.

"No, not even close." She said. "A potato could probably beat me in a fight." The red head didn't respond. "Well, it was interesting being able to talk to you."

"You are strange " He replied.

Ippan shrugged with an easy going smile. "I'll take it as a compliment. Wanna be friends?" His face betrayed no emotion, but his question called for all sorts of confusion.

"Why?"

"Why?" Ippan thought. She had said it on impulse, but no one had ever asked 'why' before. "Cause you're mysterious and quiet. I like those types of people. I mean my husband is cool like that."

"You are married?"

"He doesn't know that, but yes." Gaara didn't have a reply. "Plus your hair is a pretty color and you've got the whole angsty thing going on. At first I thought you were scary, but this is just your style."

"I was right to assume you were strange."

"Hey, this is how friends work. You show your weird side first so that there's no surprises later on." Ippan explain. "I think you did your share a while back." He stared with no apparent expression on his face. Maybe that was the wrong thing to say. Ippan was usually very blunt, but she was cursing that characteristic at the moment.

"Your sand tricks were pretty cool..." He begins to walk past her and said nothing at all. Well, if her blunt rudeness didn't get her attacked this was a good sign. "So I'll take it that you agree?" Silence. "Okay! Bye!" She was totally besties with a red headed desert panda. How many people could say that? Probably lots, because the shinobi world was bizarre.

Ippan walked into the office to see Tsunade sitting at her desk. She looked up at the girl. "There you are, I've been waiting."

"I was talking to Gaara. He was standing in the hallway." The girl explained proudly.

The fifth blinked at her. "Really?" Though she shouldn't have been surprised. Ippan spoke to everyone, whether they wanted her company or not.

"Yeah, we're desert panda besties now." Tsunade wasn't even going to pretend to understand what that meant.

* * *

In Gaara's head as he left. _She's probably an idiot._


	30. She Was Born That Way

"Have you ever considered a diet?" Ino asked, for what felt like the millionth time. Ippan rolled her eyes as she poked the pedal of a lily.

"No, Ino actually I haven't." The girl stated honestly. "I don't care about that sort of thing."

"You do know that if a person gets too big they could die." The blond said leaning over the counter with a face that said _I know everything_. They were in the Yamanaka flower shop and Ippan didn't have a particular reason for being there. She was done with Tsunades assignments for the day and she was surprised at how much simpler the work load flowed. With Mitoku she was less motivated and that was probably the reason why she did such lazy job at filing. Perhaps not being banished to the corner of the library and actually being able to speak to other human beings was a better fit.

The fact that she was easily bribed by sake helped as well.

Now here she was in Ino's family shop being told that she was fat. "Well, if I die then I'll know I was too big." Ippan stated bluntly. She liked Ino she really did. The girl spoke her mind and didn't care about opinions. Well, other then physical attributes. That was her biggest down fall.

"I'm just saying. It's not like you're ugly or anything so if you thinned out you'd probably be pretti _er_." She added 'er' so not to sound like a complete jerk. Ippan felt like this was the core of their relationship: blatant rudeness.

"Blah, blah, blah, are you gonna sell me flowers or not? I'm a paying customer who deserves respect." Ippan said with a fake offended attitude. "I could report you for exploiting my insecurities."

Ino raised her brow. "Really?"

"Nah, I don't care." The girl picked up a dark flower and tilted her head. "Oooh, what's this?"

"That's a chocolate cosmos. You might not want that kind though." She said. Ippan looked back at the girl with a raised eyebrow.

"Why not? It's pretty and black, that's always a plus in my book."

Ino shook her head. "It's stands for the end of love. Unless your love life is over you shouldn't get those. It's bad luck."

"Oh, well I'll just have to take my chances. Negative flowers aren't in charge of my life." Ippan said picking out the ones she liked best. Ino tilted her head.

"What do you even want them for?" The girl was a bit curious.

"I want to make a flower crown."

Ino sighed and brushed through her bangs. "Ippan you're so childish. Guys will never like you if you keep up this act."

"What act?" Said girl asked holding up the flowers to her head and looking at the windows reflection. "I was born this way."

"That's what's so sad."

"Hey, quit being a meanie and take my money." The lavender haired girl places the flowers on the counter. She looked up at Ino who was looking behind her with curious eyes. "What?" Ippan turned around only to see her father. "Oh, hey dad."

"I thought that was you, kid." He said with his hands in his pants pockets. He walked up beside her and placed a hand on her head, glancing down at the flowers. "What are you doing?"

"I'm buying flowers to make a crown." She stated simply. This made her father smirk.

"Naruto's off on another mission, hm?" Ippan mumbled a 'yes'. She got bored when he wasn't around and made up things to do if she wasn't working.

"Why are you here dad?" She asked deciding to change the subject.

"I have a job around the corner and got hungry. Then I saw you in here." Her father didn't add anymore detail then that and he usually never did.

"I'm making flower crowns do you want one too?" Ino raised her eyebrow as if to say 'did you really ask that?'.

"Mm, no thanks kid. Those are cosmos. They're bad luck." He looked do the blond who straightened under his gaze. "Isn't that right?"

"Ooh yeah, you're right." Ippan gave Ino a questioning look as to why she had such a dopey expression on her face. She was only talking to her dad.

"If I wear those your mother will think it _means_ something. " Ippan knew what that meant all too well. "Next time get some carnations and I'll wear it."

The girl looked up at her father with a grin. "Really? Even at work?"

"Even at work." He rubbed her head. "I'll see you at home kid." She waved and when he was gone Ino spoke.

"Why didn't you tell me your dad was attractive!" She asked as if she was insulted that Ippan had kept it a secret.

Ippan looked at her friend with a grimace. "Well that's not something I wanted to hear today, but okay."

Ino leaned over the counter and studied the older girls face. "Seriously, I think I'm seeing you in a whole knew light."

"I think I prefer the dark." Ippan held the flowers in a bouquet that Ino had tied together. "I'll see you around."

"Hey introduce me to your dad next time."

"Ugh." Ippan said with a disgusted face. "Yeah, I'll make sure never to do that." Ino rolled her eyes and Ippan stuck out her tongue before walking out the door. She was tempted to go back and ask for carnations just so she could see her dad wear them. Ippan grimaced at Ino's attitude towards her father. He was a lazy and presented himself as a hobo most of time. Though her opinion was biased. Maybe that's how Naruto felt about her teasing with Kakashi.

Speaking of which.

She blinked when the man was seen in front of her with a book in hand. "Why am I being asked by the Hokage how our marital life is going?"

Ippan stood silently for a moment before holding up a flower to the man. "Want a flower crown?"

 **I'll probably set up for Naruto's departure next chapter. This was just something I had in my head.**


	31. I'll Miss You

Ippan was sleeping deeply when she awoke to a familiar knocking at her window. Her vision was blurry at first before she turned to see Naruto sitting on the tree branch outside. She raised the glass frame and allowed him to come inside.

"Did I wake you?" He asked crawling over the comforter of her bed.

The girl attempted to rub the sleep out of her eyes and yawned. "Obviously." She looked at his bright blue ones that shined in her dark room. "What is it? You haven't come to visit me this late in a long time."

"I know." He said shifting on the bed to face her completely. "I just wanted to talk to you."

"Not that our quality time isn't great, but couldn't this have waited until the morning?" Ippan asked scratching her head sleepily. Tsunade had actually made her run real errands that morning all over the building and into some parts of the village. It was mostly picking up items that she needed, along with filing some work, none of which she questioned. All in all it was a tiring day.

"No, it can't." The boy said, making her look up at him curiously. She blinked her eyes attempting to waken herself up.

"What happened? Is there something wrong?" The girl asked straightening up a bit more. "Did you go to the hospital again?"

"Yes, uh, I mean no- sort of." Ippan raised her brow. "But that's not the point. You see, I'm leaving."

For a moment his statement didn't register with the girl. "Leaving? So you have another mission coming up?" _Why was that something he needed to tell me,_ she thought to herself.

"No, I mean I'm leaving the village to train with the pervy sage." Naruto stated slowly, waiting for her to react.

"Oh I see." Ippan tilted her head. "So for how long? Is it a month or something?"

Naruto lowered his head and shook it lightly. "No, two years." He looked back up to the girl and waited for her to respond. Her emerald eyes hadn't moved from his face until her mouth opened to speak.

"Oh." Is all she said.

"Oh?"

"Oh."

"Is that all you have to say?" He asked with an incredulous tone. "I'm leaving, dattebayo."

"And you don't think I heard you?" Ippan stated calmly. "When?"

"When?" He repeated before frowning. Where was her reaction? "Tomorrow."

"I see." This time she said it more stiffly.

"Why are you acting like this, huh?" Naruto asked more angry now. "You sound like you don't care."

"And you really think that?" Ippan asked looking up with a lopsided smile. "What do you want me to do?"

"I don't know, be mad or surprised." He huffed. "Feel something."

Ippan laughed. "Believe me Naruto, I'm feeling a lot more than you know."

Naruto was starting to get anxious and the feeling was only making him angry. "What's so funny? Come on Ippan tell me how you're feeling or I'm not gonna know."

"Okay, fine. If I don't laugh then I'm probably going to cry or something." She said with a grin that seemed forced. The blond looked at her wide eyes. "I mean my best friend did just say he was leaving for two years."

"Ippan, you know, I've never seen you cry." He stated honestly which sounded horrible once he said it out loud.

She chuckled and subtly sniffed. "Wow, you want to see me cry? You're a terrible best friend. I should really reconsider giving your position to Shikamaru."

Naruto looked insulted, despite knowing she was only kidding. "I am not! Besides he wouldn't take it."

"Hey, you don't know that. In your absence he's slowly rising to best buddy number one. In fact, I've even made friends with the desert panda."

"Desert panda? Gaara?" Despite everything, Ippan loved that Naruto knew her well enough to understand her nicknames.

"Yeah, he's got pretty hair." The boy made a strange expression. "Hey, don't look at me like that. Kakashi is filing a 'divorce'. Apparently you're significant other is suppose to know that you're actually married to one another."

"But...Gaara."

"Hey, I only said his hair was pretty."

"But that's how it starts with you." Naruto grumbled.

"Well, you'll never know how it finishes because you'll be gone." Ippan said bringing the seriousness back into the conversation. Naruto sat in silence.

"This is something I need to do, Ippan. I need to become stronger. There's a group called the Akatsuki and if I'm not strong enough they could destroy everything I care about. Meaning _you_ too."

"I know, I know, you're a ninja and you have to do the right thing...But that doesn't mean I won't miss you." She said looking down at her feet.

Naruto laughed at her ironic statement. "Hey, you said you'd never say that again."

Ippan shrugged. "Well, I changed my mind, but you need to promise me something."

"What is it?" He asked curiously.

"You'd better come back taller than me or I'll make fun of you for as long as I live." She joked. "Oh and I guess stronger too."

Naruto grinned. "I will." She surprised the boy by hugging him and he gladly returned the gesture. They stayed that way until he felt her breathing slow down. Naruto lowered his eyes at her to see that she had fallen asleep against him. He laid Ippan back onto her pillow as he pulled her covers back on. "I'll miss you too."

He ruffled her hair lightly as she often did to him and jumped out of the window, closing it behind him.


	32. The Hypothetical Fifth Choice

_Over two years later_

"And that's how I got Neji to let me touch his hair." Ippan was just finishing up a story that she had been telling to Shikamaru and Temari. The two were on their way to the Hokage's office. Neither of them had anything in particular that needed to be said and they were content with the silence. Ippan had seen them as she was on her way to see Tsunade as well, so she decided to join them. And so began the strange telling of random tales.

Temari raised her eyebrow at Shikamaru who shrugged. "That's certainly interesting..." She wasn't sure if that was the right word.

However Ippan didn't seem to notice the looks the two were giving her. "Yeah I know. At first he was all stoic and he still is, but it took sometime to ware him down. But I got what I wanted in the end."

"Ippan your fetish with hair is starting to concern people." Shikamaru said stuffing his hands into his pockets.

"Starting?" Temari scoffed.

"Hey, it's not a fetish." The girl defended. "It's not like I want to touch your hair."

The blond blinked. "Wait, what's wrong with my hair?"

"Nothing."

"You said that rather fast."

"Ugh, guys are we really going to keep on this subject?" Shikamaru asked with a sigh.

Temari rolled her eyes. "Hey don't look at me. She's _your_ friend."

"Sadly." He said, though he didn't mean it.

Ippan gasped. "Shika, you've truly broken my heart. We were besties and after I hypothetically considered you my fifth back up husband."

"Husband?" Temari repeated.

"Fifth?" Shikamaru said. Though that probably wasn't the right thing to question. But he was use to her antics. Temari didn't talk to the girl as much.

"Yeah we get married, but no one would know. It would have been just so I would have the luxury of not being single."

"Secret marriages are troublesome. There would be no point." The younger boy shook his head. "Plus I'm fifth? Whose before me?"

"Why is this even a thing to discuss?" Temari asked. She wasn't usually included Ippan conversations. Well, anything that ended with a topic such as this.

Ippan put up her hands as a sign of surrender. "You're right this is your territory, sorry."

"What?"

"Nothing important." Temari was about to say something else, but Ippan was quick to open the Hokages door. "Hey lady Tsunade you-" The smile she held slowly fell from her face as she blinked at the scene in front of her. Ippan glanced to Sakura before turning her eyes to the blond.

"Hey, guess who the cat dragged in." The chipper girl smiled wide and pointed to said boy.

 _More like the fox_ , Ippan thought as she walked into the room.

Unlike her, Shikamaru grinned. "Naruto is that you?"

"Shikamaru!" The boy said walking towards him with his arms behind his head.

"So you're back now, huh?" The Nara sounded happy as Ippan crossed her arms. He had definitely gotten taller that was for sure and he did look older.

"Yeah, I just got back today." Naruto said, before someone caught his eye. He blinked and took a step forward at the solemn faced girl. She had a short lavender undercut and all black on her curvy form.

"Well are you gonna say hi or not?"

"Ippan!" He said tilting his head. "For a second I didn't recognize you."

"Of course it's me. Bask in my glory." She said raising a hand to his head. Though now she had to stand on tips of her toes. "So you did as I said and grew a few inches. Good job, kid."

"Ugh, Ippan I'm bigger than you now. You have to treat me more maturely." He groaned.

"Yes, well age before height."

"Is that even a real saying?"

"It doesn't matter. He hasn't matured at all." Sakura teased as Ippan grinned at the blond in response.

"Sakura, come on." Naruto groaned. The room broke out into laughter. Then as things calmed down the boy spoke up. "So Shikamaru are you my opponent?" Well that was certainly a random thing to ask. Though they all were probably discussing it before she had come in.

"Opponent what are you talking about?" He questioned. "I just came here to drop off some paper work."

Naruto blinked. "Oh well, if it's not you then..." He looked at Temari. "What's your name again?"

The girl looked insulted. "You don't remember me?"

Naruto took one last guess and glanced to Ippan. The lavender haired girl held a straight expression. "Yes Naruto, I'm here to fight you as revenge for being almost six months later then you said you'd be back."

"Naruto," Tsunade called. Everyone turned to the woman. "You won't find your opponent in here. "He's out there." She pointed out the window. Everyone walked in that direction and Ippan saw Kakashi sitting on the paneling outside.

"It's my divorcee." Ippan said with joking sigh.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, we get it you're heart broken."

Ippan stuck out her tongue. "Don't be salty cause you're fifth, bestie."

He shook his head. "Whatever Ippan."

He was only slightly curious.


	33. Questioned by the Aburame Clan

"Please." Ippan said leaning her head to the side with wide eyes. She puckered out her bottom lip and held her hands together underneath her chin. Tsunade looked at her with an unaffected expression.

"No."

"Aw but why?"

"You know why." The older woman said collecting files in front of her. "You were banned."

"But I promise I'll be good this time." Ippan leaned over the table where Tsunade was seated. "No funny business."

"That's what you said last time and look what happened. I get questioned by the Aburame clan head on why the Hokage would need a butterfly garden."

Ippan glanced to Shizune who sweat dropped in response. "I was curious. How was I suppose to know their abilities didn't work that way?"

"Well your curiosity has forbidden you from using the carrier birds."

"Mm." Ippan crossed her arms before grinning hopefully. "I'll get you that special sake you like."

Tsunade smirked at the girls attempt to bribe her. "I could make you get it anyway. It's a part of your job description."

"Ugh, I forgot." She scuffed, blowing up at her bangs. Ippan was about to give up, but something came to mind and she smiled once again. "I'll play you for it."

Shizune put a hand to her face. "Oh not again."

Iruka sensei spoke up with a wry smile. "Ippan, perhaps this isn't the right time. The next team awaiting a mission will be coming in soon."

"It's always the right time to gamble. Isn't that right fifth Hokage?"

Tsunade raised an amused eyebrow. "Play me? Ippan, this isn't up for negotiation and that's final."

"Mmm, okay. I see how it is." Ippan casually inspected her black nail polish. "You know I heard about your nickname. What was it...the Legendary Sucker?"

The Hokage's eye twitched. "What?" The everyone sitting at the table look between them.

"I can understand if you want me to go easy on you, again." Ippan's grin widened as the Tsunade seemed to be giving it a second thought.

"If you lose, you do twice as many errands for the next week and I'll expect all the paper work done before you leave. No slacking off."

"Alright, let's play this." Ippan said suddenly pulling out a shogi board from behind her. Shikamaru had been teaching her different techniques. He said that she had improved though she'd never beaten him. But if he said she was better then it had to count for something. Tsunade blinked at the girls smug expression.

"You knew I would agree." She paused before smiling. "I change it to the next two weeks."

The girls eyes widened. "No way, you can't do that. We already agreed!

"Yes I can. I'm your boss."

"Abuse of power! This is tyranny! Sensei do something!"

"Ippan, in all fairness you were warned." Iruka stated simply.

Tsunade smirked. "That's right, either you agree or accept the work by itself."

"Mmmm, fine." Ippan said picking up the files that were dropped into her arms.

Suddenly the door opened with team Kakashi on it's way inside the room. Naruto gazed up at Ippan's frown and raised his eyebrow. "What's up with you?"

"Tsunade is a grubby old lady." She muttered.

"What did you say?" Said woman asked with narrowed eyes.

Ippan turned with a sparkling smile. "I said Tsunade is as lovely as a baby" Tsunade only stared. "That's my story and I'm sticking to it."

Tsunade sighed and decided to ignore Ippan and move on with the assigned mission. She didn't even get to finish before Naruto started to gripe about what they had been given. "Escorting a caravan? You've got to be kidding me!"

The Hokage looked annoyed. "What? Do you have a problem with that?"

"As a matter of fact I do. A lousy C ranked mission is beneath my dignity."

"Naruto you may have improved your skills, but you haven't matured at all." Iruka said holding a hand to his forehead.

Tsunade sighed before speaking to the hot headed boy. "Naruto, I chose an easier mission to start you off. You've been gone for a while."

"Well who says I want an easier mission?" The blond complained before being choked by Sakura.

"So sorry lady Tsunade I'm sure I can bring him around." Ippan still didn't approve of how the girl treated Naruto, but Sakura had grown on her over the years of him being gone. Since Sakura was Tsunade's apprentice she spent more time with the girl. Ippan found that she wasn't as bad as she first thought. Sakura just had a tendency to use her fists more then her words at times. Now it would be more often being that Naruto was back.

Th boy narrowed his eyes with a frown. "Hm, I miss the third Hokage. Jiji was smart. _He_ knew what he was doing."

Ippan turned and tapped the files against his head catching his attention."Naruto quit being a brat. We all have to start somewhere. You may be starting with a C rank mission and others gamble their way to a tyrannizing position of authority." Tsunade rolled her eyes seeing that the girl was still holding a grudge.

Naruto furrowed his brow. "Ippan that doesn't make any-" He was interrupted by a concerned looking woman running into the room.

"Lady Tsunade, terrible news. An emergency dis pact from the Sand!" She handed Tsunade a piece of paper. "I de-crypted it as quickly as I could."

Tsunade began to read as Iruka and Shizune gasped. Naruto stepped forward. "What is it?"

"It's the Kazegake of the sand." Oh no what happened to her panda bestie? "It seems he was kidnapped by the Akatsuki."

Bae was kidnapped?!

Ippan pursed her lips. She'd heard that name several times over the past couple of years. Tsunade made it a point to look into any information she could dig up about the Akatsuki. They were bad news and they were after the Jinjuriki. She'd also learned that that was what Naruto was. There was others just like him. And Gaara was taken because of who he was.

"We know more about the Akatsuki than any other village and that is why the Sand village has requested our help." Tsunade said.

Shizune gave bothered glances over to team Kakashi. "You can't be suggesting that they-"

"We don't have time to form another squad." Tsunade looked up at the team in front of her. "Alright you have your mission. Go to the Sand village and find out what's going on. Keep us informed and follow their orders with any back up they need."

The team moved on there way out the door and Ippan followed behind them with stack papers she had to file. Naruto walked beside her and she glanced up to him. "So, off you go again hm?"

"Ippan this is important." Naruto stated firmly "If the Akatsuki are back then that means we're all in danger."

"Yeah."The girl lowered her voice so only the two of them could hear. "We, meaning _you_ too." She stopped and Naruto did the same. "I know they're bad people, Naruto. I also know what they're after and it's inside of you." She nodded her head towards his stomach.

"I've fought them before." He countered. "If they want a fight then that's what they'll get."

She frowned. "Naruto I know this is personal, but don't get carried away."

"Ippan, don't you get it? The Akatuski made it personal when they kidnapped Gaara, dattebayo!" The blond argued.

"Of course I get it." She stated as calmly as she could. "Look Naruto, I don't know a lot about being a ninja, but I do know that losing your head on the battle field could be literal if you don't watch yourself. I'm worried about Gaara too, _but_ I'm also worried about you."

He glanced away. "You don't have to I'll be alright..."

"Well saying that won't change anything. Naruto, you were gone for a long time. I don't want you to leave again and then I found out you died because you were being reckless." Ippan shuffled uncomfortably at how she was feeling. She blinked when a hand plopped down on her head.

She looked up at his smiling face as he ruffled her short hair. "Don't worry Ippan. I promise I'll come back and Gaara will be safe too."

The girl attempted to shake off his hand. "Yeah, okay, now move your hand."

"No way."

"Do as I say or you'll be moved down on the list."

Naruto raised his eyebrow removing his hand from her head. "A list?" Ippan began to walk away. "Wait, what list? Ippan!"


	34. Kiba's Defeat

Ippan held up an object to Kiba who sat in front of her with his forehead protector over his eyes. "Alright what's this one?" He sniffed slightly before grinning.

"Easy, sweet buns."

"Correct." She said before holding up the next object. "And this?"

"A bag of chips." Kiba said before sniffing it a second time. "It's barbecue flavored and it's empty."

"Well now you're just showing off." Ippan quipped as he started to smile.

"I don't have to smell the bag to know you ate them all." The boy said with a teasing grin.

The girl shrugged though he could see her action. "Touche'. All right last object."

Kiba took in a whiff before frowning. "That's your shoe, isn't it?" Instead of answering, Ippan let out a laugh and the boy pulled up his head protector. "Ippan you're such a kid."

The girl kept on smiling. "Hey, aren't ninja suppose to analyze people's actions or something? You should have expected it."

Kiba raised his left eyebrow. "You're blaming smelling your shoes on me? You really are a kid and Hinata I can't believe you let her do it too." They looked at the Hyuuga who sat across from them quietly watching.

"She'd already done it by the time I realized." The girl spoke in a whispered tone. "Sorry Kiba."

Ippan's grin widened. "No need to apologize Hinata. He agreed to play. Isn't that right Akamaru?" The dog gave a deep bark and she rubbed the back of his ears.

"Hey, don't use my own dog against me and Akamaru don't encourage her." He said glancing towards her. "She's bad enough as it is."

Said girl stuck out her tongue in response before ruffling Akamaru's fur. "It's okay if you're on my side. I would understand why." Kiba narrowed his eyes as Ippan smirked. "You've really gotten big haven't you, boy? What does he eat any way?"

"Obviously food." He deadpanned.

"Hey, no need to be sarcastic." Ippan crossed her legs in the grass before turning to the pale eyed girl. "He's just mad because he was bested by a civilian.'

"You made me smell your shoe. Where did you win in this situation?" He scoffed.

"Well technically you won, but I got a laugh out of it." She said in a matter of fact tone. "But I'm impressed. The Inuzuka clan must really have a good sense of smell."

"Of course we do." Kiba said proudly.

"Or do you go around familiarizing yourself with feet?" Ippan asked trying to keep a serious expression.

The boy rolled his eyes. "This is why I keep my hang outs with you to a minimum."

"Well, everyone I usually talk to isn't even in the village right now." She stated. "Besides Hinata. But she's more of a listening type of gal." Ippan patted the girl's shoulder. Hinata blinked at the contact. She had to admit that when she'd finally had a real conversation with Ippan she was automatically very familiar. Hinata thought it was only something she did with Naruto since she saw them with each other so often. Now she knew that Ippan was just a very open person. Whether they liked it or not.

"So what, I'm your last resort?" Kiba asked.

Ippan tilted her head. "Aw come on, you know you're one of my buds."

"Sure."

"Would it make you feel better if I said you're on my list for back up husbands?"

"No." He paused. "Where on the list?"

"Number seven."

"What, I'm not even in the top five?" He asked.

"Hey, I'm just thinking about my options." Ippan said before looking at Hinata. "What about you Hinata, do you have a husband list?"

"H-h-husband- me? L-list? I don't think..." She trailed off with flushed cheeks.

Kiba snorted at the thought. "Yeah, she has one but it's _very_ short."

"Kiba." The girl grumbled with her face getting redder by the second.

"Hey, no need to tease. Everyone has a list when you think about it. I bet you've lined up potential female candidates or male, no judge."

Kiba sighed. It wasn't as if it was a big deal. They were friends and that was all there was was to it. Though sometimes he wondered how the friendship even started. "So, who's ahead of me on this list of your's?"

"Well, I feel bad so I'll tell you." Ippan leaned back against the tree. "Let's see there's Gaara, Naruto, Rock Lee-"

"Rock Lee?" He said in an incredulous tone. "Seriously, bushy brows?"

Ippan blinked. "Yeah, I think he's funny and I like his personality. Do you want to hear the rest or not?"

"Fine go ahead."

"Then Chouji, Shikamaru, and Neji. Then there's you and Shino."

"I feel insulted."

"Do you want a nickname? Nicknames make everyone feel special."

"No they don't."

"I'm giving you one anyway." Ippan said. "How about Kibby!"

"That's terrible." He smiled despite this being said.

"Well I like it so the name stays. Now let's hug it out-" Kiba pushed her away with his index finger to her forehead. "Why do you deny my love, Kibby?"

"I'm your seventh choice, so I think I have the right." He grinned as she rubbed the slightly red spot between her eyebrows.

"Fine, Hinata can hug me instead." Ippan opened her arms wide and Hinata blinked.

"Um, okay."

The girl squeezed and gave a fake pout. "Do you see how mean your teammate is?" The Hyuuga awkwardly patted her back.

"Wait," Ippan turned to Kiba as he spoke. "why is Naruto on the list?" He knew Hinata was too shy to ask.

"No other reason than that he's my best friend." She said with shrug. "After all if your going to get hitched it might as well be with someone that knows you."

"Then why is Gaara number one?" Hinata asked curiously. Finally joining the ridiculous conversation.

"Because he's a red headed panda and I like that."

"Do you know how weird that sounds?" Kiba asked, raising his brow. He really wondered why he spent his time around her.

"Just as weird as you knowing the smell of my feet right off the bat."

"Well maybe they just stink, have you thought about that?"

"Oh Kibby, we all know that's not true."

Kiba sighed and stood up. "I think that's enough Ippan time for the next month."

"You do realize I'll be handing you your mission report this week right?" She said with a smirk.

"Geez, how did I get stuck knowing you?"

"The universe must have known we were destined."

"Well that's a terrifying thought."

"And that's why your dog likes me better than you, isn't that right?" Ippan scratching under his chin. Akamaru smiled.

"Traitor." Kiba scoffed. "I'll see you later. Make sure to snag us something good."

"Only if you say you love me Kibby."

"Never gonna happen."

"Then you get an F rank." Kiba wanted to argue and say that wasn't a real thing, but knowing her he'd probably regret taking it any further.


	35. The Belly Shirt Boy

"That grubby old lady cheated." Ippan said with a pout as she walked down the street after an exhausting morning of work. Tsunade had remembered the bet after all the chaos that had been surrounding Gaara and Naruto actually finding out where Sauske was. Not that she particularly cared about the Uchiha, but Naruto did and that's all that mattered. Sadly she still sucked at shogi and now she had more work than ever.

Ippan groaned at the thought.

"Hey, Ippan!" Someone yelled from behind her. The tired girl turned her head with strained expression. There stood Naruto, Sakura, Ino, Chouji and a boy that looked slightly familiar. They all walked up to her and Naruto raised his left eyebrow. "What's up with you?"

"I lost a bet with the Hokage. Now she's trying to kill me with unreasonable amounts of work."

Sakura sighed. "Ippan, I told you to stop gambling with her. You know how you two get and it never ends well."

"How was I suppose to know she was good at shogi?"

Chouji spoke up as he ate a potato chip. "Ippan, you're terrible at that game."

"Shikamaru told me I had gotten better." She grumbled. "He lied to me."

"I'm pretty sure when Shikamaru said that he didn't mean you should go challenge the Hokage." Ino said. "You're so dumb sometimes." Ippan narrowed her eyes in response before Naruto spoke.

"Well, if you're done for today, we're going to the barbecue grill restaurant. Do you wanna come with?" He asked, attempting to change the subject. "It'll cheer you up and I know it's your favorite."

"Sure." She said with a smile.

When they got to the restaurant Ippan sat down next to Chouji and across from the mystery boy who seemed oddly familiar. She stared at him with a tilt in her head until he turned to look at her. "Is there something wrong?" He said with the same smile he'd held since she'd seen him on the street.

"Nothing is wrong, but you do look familiar." The girl leaned forward a bit. "What's your name?"

"My name is Sai. It's a pleasure to meet you." She noted that his facial expression hadn't changed at all when he spoke.

"Sai...Sai...oh!" Ippan said as it finally hit her who he was. "I know you!"

"Really? I don't believe we've ever met."

"No, of course we haven't. I read your profile, you're the belly shirt boy." She looked proud to have remembered. Naruto snorted as he covered his mouth.

Sai blinked. "Belly shirt boy..."

"Ha! It's even funnier when he says it!" Naruto held his stomach and laughed.

"Ippan, Naruto, quit being rude!" Ino scolded and looked at the older girl with a frown.

She shrugged. "That's how I remembered him and that's what he was wearing you can't fault me for that."

The blond rolled her eyes as she saw Chouji reaching for the meat grilling above the fire. "Hey! We're not eating yet. We still haven't properly introduced our selves to Sai."

Chouji gave a look of disappointment as he was beginning to drool from the smell. "My name is Chouji Akimichi from the Akimichi clan. And you're just Sai, right? No family name?"

The raven haired boy only smiled. Did he have any other expressions? "Yes, that's all. You um...you...fat-" Naruto practically climbed across the table and smashed his palm against Sai's mouth. The blond mumbled something to him before sitting back down.

"Hey, were you about to say something?" Chouji asked.

Sakura laughed nervously. "No it was nothing." It didn't sound like nothing, but Ippan decided to stay quiet. Sai seemed like an unusual boy to begin with.

Chouji shrugged. "Okay."

The girl glanced up to Sai as he seemed to be in deep thought before speaking. "Ippan, is it?"

"Yeah, Ippan Shinpuru at your service." She said between bites of food.

"How did you come upon my information?" He asked with a plastic like expression.

"I do the old lady's bidding." Sai didn't seem to understand and Sakura sweat-dropped.

"Ippan, is an assistant to the Hokage. She files paper work and other matters."

"I see," He said. "and what you called me, "belly shirt boy", is that a nickname? Do you wish to become friends with me?"

The girl blinked at his questions. He was a weird one alright. "Um, I guess, sure we can become friends. But I only called you that because you weren't really wearing a shirt in the picture. Not that I didn't enjoy it."

"Then I'll keep the name."

"You do you, buddy."

"Is it alright if I give you one?" She glance to Naruto who was rapidly shaking his head. Sakura held up her arms in the shape of an "x".

Ippan shrugged, picking at the lettuce on her plate. "I don't see why not."

"Alright, um...you...glutton." The piece of meat she was about to eat landed back onto her plate as her mouth fell open.

"Wow, that was really rude." She stated calmly while Naruto glared at the boy.

"Hey! You can't just call Ippan something like that!"

"But," She continued. "you're honest and super weird so I'll give you that one."

"So I've insulted you then?" He asked.

Ippan waved him off. "You didn't say anything I haven't heard before."

"I...apologize."

"It's fine, but if you want to make it up to me you can let me touch your abs."

"Ippan that's sexual harassment!" Ino scolded.

"Only if he doesn't enjoy it."

Sai held a hand to his chin as if he was actually considering it. "I don't know if that would be an enjoyable experience."

"We could find out."

"Stop it." Ino said.

"Why are you defending him?" Sakura asked. "He just insulted her."

"Well, Ippan is a glutton."

She raised her hand lazily. "Guilty as charged."

Ino turned to Sai. "Anyway, I'm Ino Yamanaka and my family own the Yamanaka flower shop."

"It's nice to meet you, um...beautiful." Ino blushed in surprise and looked down shyly.

Ippan raised he right eyebrow, leaning back on the palms of her hands. _Well I see where we stand...or in this case sit._

She peered over at Sakura who began to look furious as she began to grin her teeth together. "You call me _homely_ and she gets beautiful!"

"Calm down Sakura!" Naruto attempted to hold her back, but he was pushed aside and the angry girl punched him square in the nose. He flew back and hit the wall.

Ippan shrugged and turned to Chouji who was unaffected by the commotion. "Can you pass the soy sauce?"

Sai was at least better than Sasuke and he had nice abs.

* * *

 **Pointless comment: Sai is one of my favorite characters in Shippuden. He's so weird, I love it. xD**


	36. They Come Around Eventually

Ippan struggled to stay awake at the table as her family ate breakfast together. Her skin was pale and she had dark circles under her eyes. Her short lavender hair was a bit more frizzy than her parents were use to. Not to mention that she was about to fall face first into her plate. Ippan's father instinctively held up her head as he spoke.

"Hey kid, wake up. You're about to face plant into your food." He said as she lazily craned her neck in his direction. Her eyes blinked slowly, almost one at a time.

"Hm?" She tilted her head propping her cheek into her palm.

Her mother spoke up in a concerned tone. "Ippan, you're practically dead on your feet."

"Well, technically dead in my seat." She grinned tiredly. Her mother was not amused. "Okay, sorry. I'm fine, just a bit tired is all."

Her father raised his left eyebrow. "You almost drowned in your breakfast, kid."

"I'll be okay." She assured. "The fifth just has me working really hard and I had to stay late all this week."

"What could be so important that you're barely able to stay awake?" The woman stared at Ippan with wide green eyes. She pursed her lips, keeping her head down and pushed around the food on her plate.

"There's a group of people doing some bad things that could potentially put everyone in danger and I have to do my part to keep that from happening." Ippan explained as vaguely as she could. Ippan knew that if her mother found out who these people were and what they wanted- she'd do everything in her power to keep her from it. After all she was a civilian, people like her shouldn't be working in the Hokage's office.

"A group of bad people?" Her mother repeated.

"The Akatsuki." She heard from her father direction. Ippan's eyes widened as she looked up at her father with a surprised expression. He drank from his coffee as if he hadn't said anything profound.

"How did you know that dad?"

"I've heard the name going around." He stated evenly. His dark eyes didn't portray a lie of any sort which left her confused. Ippan glanced to her mother wondering why she didn't ask the same question he did. She shifted between her parents before sighing. She decided not to question it anymore.

Standing to her feet, she threw her backpack over a tired shoulder. "I should get going." As the girl walked to the door her mother spoke.

"Ippan, I don't want you getting caught up in this shinobi business, so please be safe."

"I'll be fine mom." She said with an easy going smile. "I don't do anything really significant. I'm under the radar, so I promise you I'll be okay." Her mother still looked uneasy, but there wasn't much more to say. "I'll see you guys later."

The girl closed the door behind her with a slow inhale. When Ippan was a child she would always joke with Naruto that her father was a ninja, but now that suspicion was becoming more realistic. One day she was going to out right ask him. As for her mother she knew that there was nothing to worry about. Ippan was behind the scenes, only to file papers and run simple errands around the village. What terrorist group would target her specifically? She was average at best. The thought that she was normal didn't make her feel bad despite being surrounded by so many extraordinary people. Frankly she was puzzled how none of her close friends were civilians.

Speaking of which, she spotted a familiar dark haired boy walking down the street by himself. "Hey, Belly shirt!" She called as he turned to her, waiting for her to catching up.

"Hello, glutton." He said with smile. People that passed by looked insulted for her. However, Ippan didn't particularly care. She learned that this was how Sai showed he liked you. He tilted his head at her, placing a hand on his chin. "Might I say you look..."

"Epic? Amazing? So good you'll let me touch your abs?"

"Horrible." He finished.

"Well then."

"Forgive me, it's just you look fatigued and a bit wrinkled." Though he was referring to her clothing Ippan took it a different way.

"You calling me old? We're the same age, Sai."

"No, your appearance just looks unkempt." He states. "Are you not feeling well?"

The girl yawns. "I'm just tired."

"Perhaps you should rest more."

"Aw, look at you caring about my well being."

"That is what friends do." He says with a quirk in his lips before looking as if he remembers something. "Speaking of, Ino tells me that intimate physical contact is not a simple act of friendship."

"Well it's not, but you could still let me do it."

"I don't think I want that."

"You'll come around eventually."

"What?" He asked now turning to her.

"Nothing, how is Naruto doing? I haven't seen him in a while." Ippan had been so busy that she hadn't been in contact with the boy. He'd been on a few missions, but that's all she knew.

"He's working hard to train his wind chakra abilities and has been at it for quite sometime." Sai explained.

"Really?" She replied. Though she didn't know anything about chakra types so there wasn't much else she could say. "Knowing him he'll probably train until he's exhausted or in the hospital again."

The raven haired boy smiled. "You and Naruto are very close."

"I've seen him as a naked woman." She said with a shrug. Probably not appropriate, but she decided to say it anyway. "You can't get any closer than that."

Sai furrowed his brow in confusion. "I don't understand, is that some sort of quote or metaphor?"

"No, it's not." Before the boy could speak Ippan turns to him. "I gotta get going, but we can talk more later. Kay?" She pivots on her heels and starts walking away.

The boy blinked at her receding form with a lost expression. Every time he spoke to Ippan he was always left confused.


	37. She Has No Personal Boundaries

After finally letting out his feelings since his sensei died, Shikamaru laid on the cold wooden floor and simply stared at the ceiling. His eyes were puffy and his cheeks were stained from crying so much. The boy was tired, upset, angry and vengeful all at the same time. He couldn't take knowing that the person that killed a man that felt like a second father to him was still alive. He wouldn't and-

In the midst of his thought he heard a noise outside the door. "Ouff!" Someone said. Sounding like they had fallen onto the ground with a crunch. Mostly likely into the bushes. It was late and if the intruder didn't have ill intentions they would have used the front door. Well, if they were a ninja they weren't very good at sneaking about.

The Nara narrowed his eyes at a silhouette looming in front of his room. Shikamaru crouched down as he spoke. "Who's there?"

"It's me." Said the voice. Shikamaru blinked as he went through the voices that matched with the one he'd just heard. He could only think of one.

"Ippan." His tone didn't betray the disbelief he was feeling. What was she doing at his house? Was she sent by the Hokage? And if that was the case why hadn't his father or mother come to get him?

"Can I come in?" She asked. At first he said nothing and Ippan spoke once again."Please say yes."

"And if I say no?"

"Well, at this point I'd just open the door. Considering all the effort I took to get here." He couldn't see her face but her tone gave a matter of fact tone.

He would have just said yes at this point, but he was curious as to how she got here. "Did my dad let you in?"

"No."

Shikamaru opened his mouth to speak before sighing in defeat. "Fine, come in." He was met with a girl with leaves scattered over her slightly wild hair that shine violet in the light. She shook them off of her head and stepped inside.

"Hi." Ippan said after a few moments of silence. His dark eyes only stared her down with raised eyebrow.

"You do realize what time it is, don't you?"

"Yeah, I know. I just wanted to see how you were doing. I didn't see you at the funeral." She said taking a seat on the floor in front of him.

"And you didn't think to come by in the morning or something? Like a normal person?" He asked feeling a bit more agitated.

"Well if I was normal we probably wouldn't be friends." Shikamaru didn't have a response to that. She smiled at him hoping that he would crack one himself, but that didn't happen.

"So you broke into my house?"

"Well, no one answered the door and I wasn't going to come all this way for nothing." Ippan said as if this was the most logical response to his question. Which it wasn't.

"So that's a yes." He sounded exhausted. "This could be classified as inappropriate you know. Two teenagers of the opposite gender in one room late at night."

Ippan waved him off. "No way, Naruto used to come over like this all the time. Of course this was like three years ago...so maybe."

Shikamaru's eye twitched. "That's really not helping your case. Why don't you just tell me why you're here?"

"I told you. I wanted to know how you're doing." She stated firmly before glancing over to the shogi board that looked to have been thrown across the room. Along with the game pieces scattered here and there. "Not that great I'm guessing."

"Oh really that was just a guess?" He asked sarcastically with a bitter undertone. "How could you tell?"

Ippan wouldn't take that to heart considering everything the boy had just gone through. His sensei was just killed by a member of the Akatsuki and that wasn't something a person could just get over. Ippan hasn't had anyone she cared about die, much less in front of her.

"Listen, since Naruto left you were probably the closest friend I had. I mean it probably wasn't that way for you, but you were pretty cool." She said with a shrug feeling a bit embarrassed. "Naruto told me that Sasuke left because he was angry and he wanted revenge."

"What does that have to do with me?" He asked though he seemed to know where she was going with her little speech.

"My dad told me that revenge can take people over so much that they lose sight of what's important. As soon as I heard this I had to come over here and talk to you. Whether you wanted me to or not."

"I can see that." Shikamaru said with an unsaid expression.

"You're my friend and husband number five so of course I gotta look out for you." The girl said with her chest puffed out.

He took this moment to look her over before speaking. "You still have a leaf in your hair."

"Oh." She said pulling it out. "Guess you could say it was a _hidden leaf_. You get it cause we're the hidden leaf village."

"No I understood. It was just terrible." She frowned causing him to smirk. "Ippan if you came here to check if I'm gonna go rogue like Sasuke then your mistaken." She seemed relieved to here this. "But I am going back to fight."

"I thought as much." She said as he stood up. "What are you doing?" He didn't answer at first as he walked over to the shogi board and placed on the floor. Then proceeding to pick up the pieces.

"Making a plan." He said putting the tiles onto the wooden surface. Shikamaru seemed to be focusing now and Ippan wasn't sure if she should still be here. All she wanted to know is if he was doing okay and now he was driven to fight she couldn't argue with that. Though he might run into some trouble with Tsunade if she found out they were going on a unauthorized mission, but she wouldn't try to stop him. It wasn't her place to do that. Ippan doubted that stopping him was even a possibility.

"Well, I'll see you." She stood up and walked towards the door.

"Hey," Ippan turned around to look at the boy. "even though you talk a lot, ask to many questions and apparently don't know the meaning of personal boundaries... I think you're a good friend."

"Aw, that's the nicest thing you've ever said to me." The girl smiled as she walked back over to the fence.

"Yeah, yeah." He said. "Hey, use the front door this time."

"Kay." She said walking past him and making her way towards the exit. She blinked when she was met face to face with Shikamaru's father, Shikaku. "Where were you earlier? I had to climb your fence because no one answered the door."

"You what?"


	38. An Attractive Killer

"Hey, you know how you can phase through stuff, right?" Ippan asked the masked man. He was one of the few Anbu that she occasionally saw and bothered.

"Yes, I'm aware of my abilities." He stated with sigh. From the conversation the man had with her he could only guess what this one was going to be about.

"So I was wondering if I held onto you would I phase through too?"

"No you wouldn't." He said.

"Well have you ever tried it before?" She asked with a tilt in her head.

"No," When she went to speak the older man cut her off. "and no Ippan I'm not going to test it out with you."

She puffed out her cheeks and lowered her brow in a pouting fashion. "This would be more fun if you told me your name. I can't call you Foxy forever."

"I'm willing to live with that." He said and she could feel the smile underneath his mask.

"Do you sleep with that mask on?" She suddenly questioned.

"Why would you ask me that?" His tone suggested that her question was a bit puzzling.

"Well Kakashi sensei, you know him." The Anbu nodded. "He never takes off his mask even when he's sleeping." There was an uncomfortable silence at least for the Anbu.

"Why do you know that?"

"Because." She said as if that was the correct response. Ippan took this chance to pick up the stack of files she had set down to speak to him and walked towards the door. "I'll talk to you later, Foxy."

The girl moved out into the hall and made her way towards the Hokage's office. Ever since Naruto had gotten back from his last mission he's been very determined. Of course he's always been serious about getting Sasuke back. However now word has gotten out that Sasuke is out. Apparently he killed Orochimaru and now he's out to find his brother Itachi.

Tsunade asked her to get all the information the archives had on the man and he was certainly an interesting person. When she walked into the office she plopped down all the files onto her desk. "This is everything."

"Are you positive?" The older woman said glancing over all the papers.

"I made Mitoku go through everything they had. I think I was annoying him." She said. "He said he'd ban me if I asked anymore questions."

"I see." The fifth said, though Ippan could tell that she wasn't really listening. Her eyes had already been glued to the documents in front of her. Ippan hadn't looked at any of these documents so she was curious about the Uchiha. She decided to lean over the desk and read the document Tsunade was holding.

Said woman looked at her with a deadpanned expression. "What is it Ippan?"

"I'm just wondering what the plan is?" She paused. "I heard that Sasuke killed Orochimaru."

Tsunade pursed her lips. "Yes well, now that Sasuke is on his own he's going to go after his brother, that's for certain. We're going to send two teams to detain him."

"I see." Ippan said. "If you have Itachi then Sasuke will surely follow."

"Partly, if we have Itachi then we can find the whereabouts of the three tails as well."

"Do you really think that he'll tell you that?" Ippan asked.

"Let us worry about that." Tsunade said with a tired sigh. "Have you already organizing the genin squad missions."

Ippan nodded. "Yeah, you just have to sign off for them."

"Good, then you're done for today."

"Okay." The girl saw that Tsunade had already gone back to reading the documents. Ippan decided to be on her way, but then a thought came to her. What was she going to do for the rest of the day? Her question was answered when a grumble was heard from her stomach.

Food always came first, obviously.

What was close? Ramen Ichiruka's was near by. When Ippan got inside the restaurant she went to greet Teuchi and Ayame, but was surprised to see Naruto with Jiraiya. The blond seemed to be as well when he blinked at her with bright eyes. "Ippan!" He said with a mouth full of food.

"Hey." She said with a smile, taking a seat next to him before Ayame. "I'll have shitake."

"On it." The older girl said kindly.

"So how have you been, Ippan?" Teuchi asked.

She had a lot on her mind, but there wasn't much to complain about. "I'm fine."

The older man smiled. "I haven't seen the two of you here together in quite a long time." Ippan glanced between Naruto and Ippan.

"Don't blame me. This kid is a big shot now so he doesn't have time for the common folk anymore." The girl said waiting for the blond to react as she began to smirk.

"What! Come on, we saw each other the moment I got back." The boy argued. The girl sat back against the counter trying her best to hid the grin forming on her face.

"Yeah, in the office. You know, Shikamaru is probably my new best friend. I even go over to his house now."

"I thought you broke in?" Ayame asked.

"That's not what's important." Ippan said as the brunette sweat-dropped with a smile.

"Fine, do you want to come over to my house today?" Naruto asked.

"No, no, if I'm forcing you to invite me I don't want to go." The boy's expression morphed into a deadpan and Ippan was doing everything in her power to keep from laughing. She almost forgot how much fun it was to tease Naruto. It was times like these that she missed having him around.

"Well if you don't come now then you won't see me for a while." The boy said. "We're heading out on another mission tomorrow."

"I know." She replied as Ayame handed her a bowl of ramen. It was steaming and she blew on it lightly. "You're going after Itachi right? I've given lady Tsunade all the information we have on him. You know, I have to say he's pretty attractive for an Akatsuki member."

"Ippan!" Naruto said in disbelief. "He killed his entire clan, dattebayo!"

"Yes I know and he's gone to such a waste." She said. "So let him know he's too cute to be a mass murderer and that he should stop."

"Yeah, that'll do the trick." Naruto said sarcastically, poking her between her eyes with the back end of his chopsticks. "Ippan, sometimes I wonder what's going on in that weird head of yours."

"I could say the same to you." She said slurping up her noodles. "Mr 'leave my best friend hanging all the time'. You're probably cheating on me with Sai, aren't you?"

The blond almost spit out his food at her statement and began to cough. "Ew! No I'm not!"

"So you two are dating?" Jiraiya finally asked. He'd been watching them go back and forth since she had sat down with amusement

"No." They said at the same time as if it was an insult.

"He's my husband." She answered. The older man blinked with a lost expression. He didn't understand what was going on.

"I didn't realize we'd already gotten married." Naruto said. "When was the ceremony?"

"While you were off on your mission, _but_ don't be surprised when you come back and we're divorced."

"Oh come on, I said you could come over today. So quit being mad." The boy squinted his blue eyes at the unconcerned girl.

"I thought you were married to Gaara?" Ayame asked, finally entering the strange conversation. At least Jiraiya saw it that way.

"I am." Ippan stated simply. "He's my Suna husband and Naruto is my Konoha husband."

"Oh I see." She said nodding her head before returning back to work.

 _I don't,_ Jiraiya thought. Naruto had certainly found himself a strange friend.

"So do you want to come over today or not?" The younger boy asked. "I have to pack for my mission."

"Okay, okay, we could have a movie night." She said standing up from her seat.

"Let me guess, Koyuki Kazahana." Naruto said getting up right along with her.

"Hey, you love her movies too."

"Yeah, but I didn't send her a fan letter asking her to marry me."

"Hey, she didn't say no so I still have a chance."

Naruto shook his head before turning to Jiraiya. "I'm gonna go with Ippan now."

"Alright, kid." He said trying to understand the girls behavior. She stared right back at him with bright emerald eyes.

"See ya pervy sensei." She said with a wide grin as they left the restaurant together.

"No, it's pervy sage." Naruto corrected with a laugh. Ippan replied with "Oh" as their voices became further and further away. The toad sage looked like he wanted to reply, but the two were already gone.

"It's best if you just accept it." Ayame said to the white haired man. "Their conversations don't get anymore normal than that."

"I'm starting to see that." Jiraiya answered.


	39. Hormonal and Immature

Ippan didn't want to do this. She really didn't. She wanted to prolong the inevitable for as long as possible. The news of Jiraiya's death came to the village and Ippan was at a loss of words. Wasn't this the man that had taken care of Naruto for over two years? Though she didn't know him very well she was secretly grateful that he had kept her friend safe. She knew Naruto could be reckless and knowing that Jiriaya brought him back in one piece was a comfort.

Now the man was dead and Ippan had to deliver him to the Hokage's tower.

Tsunade sent her to summon him because she knew Ippan could put him at ease. At least that's what the old woman told her before sending her on her. _Yes, let him relax before we rip out his heart,_ she thought with a grimace. Of course she didn't see how this was going to work. There was a gigantic toad in front of the building so that alone looked suspicious.

When she walked up the stairs to his apartment complex she stopped in front of his window. Squinting her eyes and looked inside to see him sleeping peacefully. Ippan frowned. _Well, let me just ruin your life real quick._

She knocked on his window and he stirred in his sleep, but didn't wake up. She knocked again. No response. "You're really killing me here, bud. Hey, wake up or I'll break in. Don't think I won't. I've done it before." Ippan looked to the side to see a couple walking past giving her strange looks. She couldn't think of anything else to do, but shrug.

"Alright, I'm breaking in..." She pulled out a key from her pocket and opened the door. Closing it behind her she looked at the sleeping boy and sighed. Ippan walked over to his bed and flicked him into the forehead.

"Wa-what? Ippan what are you doing here?" Naruto asked. "How did you get in?"

"With a key." She said holding it up to his face.

He raised an eyebrow. "Did I ever give you a key?"

"No."

They were both silent before he sighed and sat up. "Whatever, why are you here so early in the morning?"

"The Hokage summoned you." She answered. "I'm here to collect you, so put on some pants."

He ignored her last statement. "Wait, she sent you?"

"Hey, I've done some important stuff before. Don't sound so surprised." Ippan turned around and sat down on his bed as he pulled on his clothes. "Ready yet?"

"Yeah, I guess." The blond said with a furrowed brow.

When they were finally on their way Naruto walked beside her and she tried to act as normal as possible. Though what good would that do? This was an upsetting situation. If it was like this for her she could only imagine what it was going to feel like for Naruto. The wry expression on her face caught his attention.

"What's wrong?"

Ippan blinked, realizing that she had messed up. "Nothing."

"Really?" He asked, knowing that was a lie.

"Yep, I was just reconsidering our divorce." She explained.

"I thought you coming over saved our marriage?"

"Well I had to do some self reflecting. It was decided that even though you neglect me as your wife we'll stay together." She said with a nod. "I'll just have a secret affair with Rock Lee."

"Rock Lee?" He repeated. "Why not Shikamaru or Neji?"

"Well because Shikamaru would be too obvious and Neji would be weird since you'd also be having an affair with Hinata." Ippan continued.

"Why Hinata?"

"Why not Hinata?" She wanted to smile since he was actually giving it some thought, but they were only moments away from the Hokage's office. Naruto stopped to look up at an extremely large toad. She learned earlier that his name was Gamabunta. "Chief toad, Gamakichi?"

"Yo, Naruto." The smaller toad said.

"What are you guys doing here? Did something happen?"

"Well actually..." Gamakichi started.

The larger toad silenced him quickly. "Be quiet, let the boss and Tsunade handle it. They know what they're doing." Ippan looked relieved that Gamabunta stopped him before it took a turn for the worst too soon. She pursed her lips before Naruto looked back at her. Ippan did her best to straighten up her face.

"That was weird." Naruto grumbled. "Ippan, do you know what's going on here?"

She was tempted to tell him, but Tsuande strictly told her not to. "They were out here before I came to get you, so don't worry about it. Let's go." She saw his suspicious expression as they moved forward.

When they got to the office she opened the door and they walked inside. "I brought him."

"Thank you Ippan, you may go." Tsunade said. She bit her lip and looked in Naruto's direction. He seemed confused and that's what made her feel bad. Ippan took the handle and closed the door behind her.

Ippan decided to head home because she didn't feel like doing anything else. As she walked down the street she heard someone calling from behind her. The girl turned around and locked eyes with her father. "Hey kid..." He saw the blank expression she held and raised his left eyebrow. "What's up?" She shrugged.

"Hey, don't give me that. Kid what's the matter?"

"I had to bring Naruto to the Hokage's office." The man only stared. "His sensei Jiraiya, you know him the Sannin, he died."

Her father showed no trace of shock. "Do you know how he died?"

"I don't know, it was some Akatsuki member and they say he was killed in the rain village." She knew that this kind of information was confidential, but she had no one else to talk to. "I guess I just feel bad."

Suddenly a hand was place on her head and ruffled up her hair. This was usually his way of making her feel better. "Listen, keep your head up alright?"

"Okay." Is all she said. He stuck his hands back into his pockets and straightened up.

"You said the rain village, right?"

"Yeah." The girl answered though she was confused as to why he was asking.

He nodded to himself before waving his hand. "I'll see you at home."

"You too." Ippan said with a confused feeling. Though she decided to disregard it.

Later that night the girl turned out her light and readied herself for bed. As she was about to close her eyes there was a knock at her window. Slowly turning her head, she was met with her blond friend. Without a second thought she opened the glass frame. There was a pregnant pause before either decided to speak.

Then Ippan finally decided to interrupt the awkward silence between them. "Hi."

"You knew?" He asked though it sounded like anything but a question.

"Yeah, I was the messenger girl..." She joked, though he didn't laugh and she wasn't expecting him to. "I'm sorry, Tsunade told me I couldn't tell you."

It was quiet once again and Ippan rubbed the back of her neck. Did he just come to her house to give her the silent treatment? If so, that was a strange sort of punishment that he didn't think out too clearly. Taking the moment to peer up at him she noticed his eyes red and looked like he had been crying for hours. Much like Shikamaru when his sensei died. But Ippan knew this was different. Naruto didn't have a father or anyone that he could really call family. Then all of a sudden she starts hearing about "pervy sage this" and "pervy sage that".

"You know I'm grateful."

He furrowed his brow. "For what?"

"For your sensei, Jiraiya." Naruto waited for her to continue. "He kept you out of trouble for those years you weren't in the village. You were safe. Even though I didn't know him that well I'm grateful for him. I think he made you happy and I think he also enjoyed having you around." Ippan glanced over to the boy and stopped talking when she saw that his eyes were beginning to water.

She held out her arms and tilted her head. "Hugs?" He hopped through the window and plopped down on her bed, giving her the chance to wrap her arms around him. "There, there."

"I'm not a kid." He grumbled though he allowed her to pat the back of his head.

"Sure your not." She said, letting him lean back against her wall. "You know, this is kind of like last time only you didn't get my bed all dirty."

"Ippan, that doesn't sound right."

"That's because you're mind has evolved into that of a teenage boy." She stated simply. "Still immature."

Naruto deadpanned."I don't want to hear that from you."

"No." She said with a smile. "That's why I said it."


	40. I See Dead People

_I just saw a dead body. I just saw a dead body. I just saw a dead body._ Ippan repeated over and over to herself as she ran down the street. Minutes had passed since her eyes fell upon the first stiff man she had seen laying in the street. Now to many to count were laid out on the street crushed by stones from collapsed buildings. People were screaming and there was chaos in every direction. She heard screams about gigantic centipede creatures destroying houses and killing ninja. This seemed to all be happening at once.

Not that long ago she was asking the Hokage if she could leave and do something fun. Now she was running for her life and attempting to find her parents as the explosions were getting closer to her area. It was becoming more clear that rogue ninja were attacking the village. Ippan could only think of one group that had a vendetta against Konoha at the moment.

The Akatsuki.

Of course there was probably more, but that was the only one she actually knew about.

The girl was breathing hard and it was obvious that she wasn't much of a runner. Though forced errands(slave labor) all over the village for the Hokage had put her in better shape than she was before. The ground shook as another building bursts into flames. Things were getting bad. It didn't look as though the Akatsuki had hit her side of village yet, so her mother could still be safe. But what about her father? She never knew where he was and he'd gone out for work earlier this morning. What if he was in one of the sections that were being destroyed. She forced down the panic beginning to fill her chest.

Ippan shook her head and kept running. She had to know that her mother was safe then they could worry about dad. Once she rounded her street corner relief filled the girl to see that their apartment complex was still standing. The moment she took a step towards the building she was thrown back by her home suddenly exploding. She rolled and rolled until she finally stopped on her stomach. Green eyes opened as she could faintly hear screaming around her.

She knew that something was wrong when she forgot to eat breakfast this morning. It was _obviously_ a sign that Konoha was going to be invaded by terrorist and set on fire.

The girl turned over when she heard faint noises behind her. It almost sounded like her name. She couldn't really tell because of the ringing sound in her ears."...Ippan! Ippan!" Surprisingly enough it was her mother or maybe conveniently. Whatever the reason she was relieved.

"Mom? You're alright?" She asked attempting to stand up. Suddenly there was a sharp aching pain her left wrist when she leaned on it.

"Yes, I was on my way back from the store when all this started." Her mothered explained as she crouched down next to her daughter. "Then I come to find my daughter unconscious on the side of the road. Do you know how that makes me feel?"

"I'm guessing bad, right?"

"Terrible." The woman blinked her emerald eyes with a worried expression. "What's wrong?"

"I'm not a doctor or anything, but I think my wrist is probably broken." Ippan paused. "Or it could just hurt really bad. Not really sure."

She saw that her mother looked visibly upset by the news. "Why can't you just be a practical child and save yourself instead of running towards danger." The girl opened her mouth. "And don't you dare bring up that joke about your name."

"Alright, shutting up." Ippan was carefully pulled to her feet.

"Can you run?" The girl nodded as they began to run. "Why would you come all the way back here?"

"I wanted...*huff huff* to know...that you were safe!" She took in a breath before she continued. "I'm also really worried about dad!"

"I am too, but you're father will be fine!" The woman yelled back to her. Ippan wanted to ask what that meant, but sudden falling debris caught her attention. Several people were screaming and she didn't have time to tell her mother. Instead she did the heroic thing and shoved her out of the way. She was proud of herself for a moment. Well she was until she looked up and pain struck the right side of her face.

 _I think I've been hurt more today then I have in my entire life,_ she thought as she blacked out.

* * *

Ippan's consciousness faded in and out as she felt someone carrying her. The girl attempted to open her eyes, but found that she could only open her left. Somehow she the right side of her face felt numb. Perhaps it was because she was pelted with a stone. In a groggy effort to touch her face the pain in her wrist made her wince.

It was almost funny how much damage in such a short amount of time. Almost.

Ippan squinted her eye up at the blur above her until she could see them more clearly. "Shikamaru? When did, who- how?" She blinked realizing that didn't make any sense.

He grimaced. "Aw man, you might have brain damage or something."

"No, I'm real fine."

"No you're not." He stated. Ippan decided not to argue.

"Honey? You're awake, oh thank goodness." Her mother cried as she looked her daughter over.

"Yeah..." The pained girl answered. "Wait, how are you here Shika?"

"For once I'm glad you have friends that are shinobi." Her mother interjected. "This young man was on his way when he saw you. I was about to beg for help, but he'd said you two were friends."

Ippan smiled despite the sharp stab in her cheek. "Aw, so you do care."

Shikamaru began to look more worried when he saw a red liquid drip from her right eye. "Hey, don't move around so much we're almost there."

"To where?" She asked.

"The emergency exit route." He explained. "Everyone is headed out of the village."

 _Everyone?_ Ippan thought. Did that mean her father too? Her mother had said that he would be alright, but the amount of dead people she had witnessed earlier filled her with doubt. And she didn't want to feel that way. Shikamaru sat her down when the two stopped running.

"You'll be fine from here?" The boy asked.

"Yeah, my wrist might be broken and I can't see out of my right eye, but I think we'll be fine." He stared with an uneasy expression. "Oh come on, I'm kidding. But not about the first thing I said." Shikamaru sighed. Her concussed speech and how she normally spoke sounded the same. So he wasn't sure how badly she'd gotten hurt besides her swollen eye. He set her down lightly as the girl wobbled. Her mother held her steady and she grimaced.

"Thank you so much." The older woman said. "I don't know if I could have carried her."

Shikamaru nodded. "Just get as far away from here as you can." He jumped on a roof and ran out of sight.

As soon as he was gone Ippan's balance almost left her again. "Are you sure you can go? You're barely even able to stand." Her mother pursed her lips. "You shouldn't have pushed me out of the way. Now look at you."

"Well...'m gonna take a guess and say I look like butt." The girl started. "And what else would I've done. Let my mom get hit? That's like parent abuse."

Her mother was about to speak when her eyes widened. Ippan turned around feeling a dizziness hit her before she was caught. She peered up at the person who had stopped her from hitting the ground. "Dad?" Relief hit her like a brick. A brick full of love. "You're alive!"

"And you look half dead." He said picking up his daughter. He then looked to his wife. "What happened?"

"There was a building collapsing and..." She trailed off.

The man examined Ippan's face. "Her eye socket."

"I know." The girl looked between her parents before speaking.

"So...what I'm hearing or well, not hearing, is that there's something wrong with my eye?" She questioned. They continued to walk in silence before he spoke.

"Do you want me to be blunt?"

"I'd prefer it that way, yes."

He paused. "Your eye is gone kid."

"Oh, that would explain the numbness." Is all she could think of to say. Then she realized they had been quiet for too long now. She decided that she didn't want to think about it anymore. It wasn't the time and it would only bother her. Yes it hurt, but what good would it do to complain the whole time. Instead she would focus on something else. "Dad, are you a ninja?"

His usual blank expression was gone as he glanced to her mother. "Well, now is a good time as any to bring it up."

"Bring up what?" She asked. "That you're a ninja?"

"No, I'm not a ninja." He stated. Somehow that disappointed her.

"I see."

"I was never given a title since because I didn't have a village as a kid." He explained. "I was a tradesman or boy, I guess."

Ippan didn't get it. "Isn't that what you are now?"

"No, I was a different kind of tradesman. We sold village secrets in exchange for money." He continued.

We? The girl craned her neck back at her mother. She held a guilty expression.

Well, she was in pain and had lost her right eye, but this would certainly be an interesting story to hear.


	41. In The Beginning

"Alright I'm almost finished." A nurse said as she carefully wrapped a cloth around Ippan's head. The woman knotted the bandaged in the back before coming back around to face the girls left side. "Try not to strain yourself. You took a nasty fall and your eye socket has been cracked. I'm sorry I couldn't do more for you."

Ippan waved her off with the one good hand she had. "Don't worry about it. I consider myself lucky." The older woman pursed her lips knowing that it was true. Some people didn't even make it out of the village. She patted the girls shoulder before standing up and moving on to the next patient. Once the nurse was gone Ippan attempted to stand from her seat on the ground when her dizziness came back. Expecting to hit the ground- she closed her eyes. Moments later when it registered that it wasn't going to happen, she looked up to see her father holding her.

"You alright?" He asked staring down at her with dark eyes.

She nodded. "Yeah, just feeling a bit of the dizzies." Ippan glanced to her mother to see her looking down with guilt. "Quit that mom. I pushed you out of the way because I wanted to."

"And now look at you!" She blurted. "Crippled and blinded."

"Hey they always said it's fun until someone's eye get poked out. Of course this wasn't fun to begin with..." Her mother covered her face and turned away, looking as though she might cry.

Her father shook his head. "Not the time, kid."

Ippan fidgeted uncomfortably. If she counted the number of times she'd seen her mother cry it would only take one hand. This was weird for her and she didn't like it. It only made her feel worse to know she was the reason. "Sorry...I'm not sure how to react in these situations."

" _You_ don't know how to react? You're hurt, but I'm the one crying." Ikari said with a flustered expression. "What a mess."

The girl scratched her head. Ippan didn't know how to deal with emotional people especially not when it was her own mother. Not knowing what else to say, she turned to her father. "Dad...you guys never told me the whole story. I want to here it."

"Well you fell unconscious so we couldn't." His statement was blunt and a bit harsh for the circumstances, but it felt normal. He seemed to notice the change in his daughters expression. "Come on, I don't think we'll be going anywhere for a while."

They all sat under a tree as Ippan laid her back against the bark. Her gaze moved across the scene of scattered people. Some were having their injuries treated, others were calling out for family members and some were sitting alone. "So, start from the beginning."

"Alright, alright." He said as he crossed his arms and leaned beside her. "Ah, so the beginning...Let's see I was raised by caravan travelers and I think we moved between the Land of Earth and Wind a lot before stopping in Suna. I guess I was about eight or nine."

"Why did you stop?" Ippan asked.

"Most of the caravan was killed shortly after entering the hidden sand territory." She was watched him easily say this and wondered if it was really alright to talking about such a sensitive subject. "They were robbed of all their goods. Myself and a few others were left alive, maybe out of pity. Don't know if that's true, but it's what I thought. We entered Suna and I knew we needed to get work and food otherwise we'd all die. Of course I was nine, so I didn't actually know where to find any."

He noticed his daughter looking at her feet with a sad expression. "Hey stop that. I decided to tell you the story, so deal with it." Translation: there's nothing to feel guilty for. "Now where was I...mm...okay. I found work at a local bar. Can't remember the name. I didn't have one now that I think about it."

"So when did you meet mom?" The girl blurted.

"Hold your horses kid. That doesn't happen yet." She pouted and looked to her mother who nodded in agreement.

"Fine."

" _Anyway_ , I actually managed to work there for another few years."

Ippan furrowed her brow in confusion. "But wait, you said you weren't a registered citizen. How does that work?"

"It's simple. They just didn't care about people like me." He stated. "I wasn't a ninja, so I wasn't a threat. Yet."

"Yet." The girl repeated. Seeing that the story was beginning to take it's turn.

Her father nodded. "When you work at a bar people tend to let things slip and I heard it all. But since I was a nameless kid, they paid me no mind. I soon learned that it pays to here secrets. The highest bidder heard what I had to say and in return they told me something as well."

"...what kind of secrets?" Ippan asked.

He shrugged. "Different kinds of things. Though I guess it's more out in the open now than when I was a kid."

"So, who paid to here it?"

"Ninja mostly. I was useful because I didn't have a huge chakra signal since technically I was still a civilian. No one would suspect that I'd know anything about things like the Puppet Technique."

"The what?"

"A jutsu, kid." Ippan hummed in understanding. "Anyway, because of this I developed connections with others like myself and then-"

"You met mom?" The girl asked hopefully.

"No, I left Suna and _then_ I met your mom."

"Oh oh where!"

"Ippan calm down, you could strain your wrist or pop one of your stitches." Ikari said putting a hand out to settle down her daughter. She mumbled 'sorry' as the older woman sighed. "I grew up just outside the Land of Waves with my grandmother. I was left with her when I was young and didn't have much going for myself. My grandmother died when I was about sixteen. Then your father came through, one thing led to another and he asked me to come with him."

"And then I was born."

"No." The woman's eye twitched. "I helped him with his job, doing what I could. Then..." Ippan smirked knowing what was coming. "we found out we were having you."

"You could just say pregnant." Himitsu added.

"Yes, well then we'd have to have the talk." Her mother said warily.

She raised her brow at her mother's demeanor. "What talk? The birds and bee's thing? Oh come on mom I'm seventeen and besides I have two husbands already."

Everyone went quiet and Ikari slowly turned her head back to her daughter. "You have what?"

Her father wasn't phased. "Is one of them Naruto?"

"Yeah." She answered simply. "It was a simple ceremony. Of course he wasn't there for it, but it's all good."

"Whose the second?"

"Gaara."

Himitsu raised his left eye brow. "The Kazekage? Does he know your married?"

"No, but I planned on sending him a letter to let him know."

"Oh, well as long as he's informed."

"What are you talking about, Himitsu?" The two turned to the bewildered woman. "You can't just accept this type of conversation."

The man waved her off. "Sure we can. As I recall, after Ippan was born you _told_ me that we were getting married. There was no asking." Ikari's cheeks darkened.

"Wait, so I wasn't born in Konoha?"

"You were, we moved here a few months before your birth." Himitsu explained.

Ippan thought about everything that her father had told her. This was a lot to take in and she could understand why they didn't tell her. In a way they'd been a part of a shady business. "Are you still a part of that type of job?"

"No, not really. After you were born I knew it would be too dangerous to do the work I'd done before." He paused. "But I still keep in contact with some of them."

"I see." Then she seemed to have realized something. "So that means you knew the fourth Hokage."

"We didn't _know_ him. Just the amazing things that the villagers would always say about him." Her mother answered.

"Then...that means you also knew about the nine tails and Naruto, right?" The woman went quiet. "That's why you told me to stay away from him."

"We wanted you to have a normal life away from danger. That's why we named you Ippan." Ikari explained. "But I see that it didn't work. Most of your friends are ninja, you're the Hokages assistant and you'e more hurt than..." She couldn't even finish.

"It's okay mom." Ippan said with a smile. "I'll just tell people I was hurt in the heat of battle. Of course it was just a rock, but no one else needs to know that."

Himitsu nodded his head in approval. "You do that, kid." The older woman's eye twitched.

"Yeah, then I can get an eye patch and be a pirate."

"Even better."

"Then I can form my own crew and look for the devil fruit."

"You lost me, kid."

"It's nothing." Ippan said finally ending the strange conversation.


	42. They Were Fated

Ippan walked out of the tent where the fifth Hokage was being held. The girl had asked Shizune when they'd expect Tsunade to wake up, but they didn't know. Ippan wouldn't lie, she liked the old woman no matter how much of an aggressive dictator she could be. She had spent almost three years working as her assistant and it was baffling how much her life could change in an instant. Hopefully things would turned around and she'd wake from her comatose state.

As she walked down a line of tents she spotted Neji on the left side of the road standing under a tree by himself. He looked to be thinking about something important from his serious expression. "Hey, babe."

The boy blinked out of thought and slowly turned to look at her with bemused pale eyes. Neji decided not to question her choice in nickname. It would only lead to stranger topics and that was usually the case when he spoke to her. When she finally stepped up to meet him he peered down at her damaged form. "I...see you were injured in the attack."

She nodded."Yeah, but I tore my way through the heart of battle."

He raised his brow. "Really?"

"No. My house blew up and a rock hit me in the face." Ippan stated pointing to her bandaged eye. "Now you can call me one eyed Willy."

"Who's Willy?"

"A pirate." Neji had no response. "I'm really into pirates right now."

"I see."

"But don't worry. You're still my favorite fabulous ninja."

Neji's eye twitched at the word 'fabulous'. "No."

Ippan laugh."Oh come on it's a-" She suddenly winced and held her head in pain.

"...are you alright?" The boy slowly asked her.

The girl combed a hand through her short hair and shrugged him off with a smile. "Yeah, I'm fine. The nurse says that this will happen for a while. Something about me having a 'concussion' and 'head trauma'." She used air quotes while she spoke as if it wasn't something to be concerned about.

The Hyuuga looked at her with an expression of disbelief. "You could get permanent brain damages. Why put a strain on your body?"

She mockingly huffed. "So I could see you _obviously_."

He resisted the urge to roll his eyes."You didn't even know I was here."

"Ah, that's how you know we're fated to be. I just know where you are."

"That's not a comforting thought and I suggest you go rest. Your concussion is making you delusional."

"I'd feel better if you let me touch you." Uncomfortable silence. "I meant your hair."

"That doesn't make it any better. Besides that was a lack of my better judgment and will not be happening again." He frowned at the slight swaying in her stance. "Now go rest."

"You're no fun." Ippan pouted.

"Ippan?" Said girl turned around and was surprised to see Naruto standing there with Sakura who was equally shocked. His eyes widened as he looked her over. The boy ran up and circled around before stopping directly in front of her. "What- how did this-...when did you?"

"Naruto you need to finish at least one of your questions so I can answer you." Ippan stated simple as he stared at her with in bewilderment.

The blond scowled. "The attack...the Akatsuki did this to you."

"Well no, my wrist is fractured because my house blew up and my eye is like this because I was hit by a rock." Her tone suggested that none of this was a problem. While Naruto was becoming more upset by the second. "Though I guess indirectly it was their fault."

"From the bandaging, I assume that you were looked at by a nurse right?" Sakura asked. "That looks like it hurts. Were you given anything for the pain?"

"Yep, but I'll be fine." Ippan said with a reassuring smile.

"She has a concussion." Neji informed. The girl looked at him with mocking betrayal.

"I thought we were fated, babe."

The boy deadpanned. "I'm just going to assume that was your injuries talking."

"We all know that's not true." Ippan stated. He paused for a moment to consider her statement and sighed. "That's what I thought."

They were all startled by a frustrated blond boy's groan. "Is everything always going to be a joke to you?"

The girl raised her brow at his sudden burst of anger. "What are you going on about?"

"What am I- are you serious?" Naruto's anger was a confusing. She turned her gaze to Sakura who looked a bit uneasy as well. It seemed as thought the two of them they needed to talk something out between themselves.

"Um, I'll go see about anyone else...who might still need medical attention." Sakura gave a look that said 'good luck' as she walked away. Neji gave a silent goodbye before heading off as well. Ugh, and he helped cause part of the problem.

 _That beautiful traitor_ , she thought.

Ippan turned back to her rather hot headed friend. They hadn't seen each other since the news of Jiraiya's death. He'd gone off training and after that everything had gone south, literally. "Are you really mad at me for getting hurt? Because if you are I want you to know that's unreasonable."

"No, I'm not mad at you." He grumbled and it didn't sound very convincing.

"Mm, well the sudden yelling just gave me the 'I'm angry' vibe." She answered.

"Really I'm not." Ippan looked unconvinced. "It's just...look at you." She opened her mouth, but was quickly interrupted. "And I know you have a joke so don't say it."

She frowned. "Fine. Why are you so worked up?"

"Granny is in a comma, the village is destroyed and Sasuke is still out there and now there's you. I just feel so-"

Naruto blinked at the hand in front of his face. "Stop right there. Let me ask you something. What can you do about any of these things?"

His blue eyes were filled with confusion. "What do you mean?"

"How do you benefit from talking about it and then proceeding to get angry?" She didn't wait for him to respond. "The answer is nothing." The girl watched as his shoulders drooped a bit. "Listen Naruto, you don't think that I feel like crying because I'll be one eyed Willy for the rest of my life?"

"Who's Willy?"

"That's not important, the point is crying and getting angry won't help anyone. What _will_ help is doing something about it." She lightly bumped him in his chest with her first.

"I'm sorry this happened to you." He said with a softened expression. "I definitely won't give up, dattebayo."

"Good, because you can't be discouraged. From what I've heard you've gotten really strong. I'm sure Jiraiya would be proud." She ruffled his hair as he looked at her with a more saddened smile.

"Yeah."

"Don't you start getting down on me. Understand?" Ippan tilted her head and he nodded to her. "That's a good boy."

Naruto frowned. "Hey, I'm not a dog, dattebayo."

"You're absolutely right. You're a fox." She winked and gave him a teasing grin.

"You're so funny." He tone was bland, making her smile widened. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"To be honest I can't even feel the right side of my face, so I think I'm alright for now." Ippan answered trying to reassure him. "But I got one good thing out of all this."

Naruto didn't look like he believed her. "Oh yeah and what's that?"

"I finally got my dad to tell me what his deal was."

His expression brightened. "What really? What is it? Is he really a ninja like we thought?"

She shook her head. "Sadly no, but he's pretty cool. He was like a super spy who got secrets for money with my mom. He still has a whole system of people that stay in contact with him."

"Oh, that makes a lot of since. " He nodded in understanding.

"Yeah and it's all thanks to my injuries." Of course she was joking, but like most things she said the time was completely off.

Naruto scrunched up his face into a frown. "Stop it. Why do you always say things like that? This isn't a joke and it's not funny.."

"Right, right, sorry." There was another silence as she shifted a bit. "You still love me though, right?"

He crossed his arms. "Well I don't know. Not if you keep talking like that."

"Oh, I see then. So your feelings have wavered back to Sai." Ippan nodded and Naruto groaned.

"Why is it always Sai?"

The girl smirked at his reaction and pretended to wipe away a tear. "That's what I ask myself every night you don't come home. "

"Ippan?"

"Yes bestie?"

"Shut up."

'"Okay."


	43. Two Fair Points

Ippan blinked with a mouth full of noodles as the news registered in her mind. "Danzo is dead? Since when? He just became the Hokage!"

Shikamaru grimaced as she spoke with her mouth gaping opened. "Swallow first would ya?" She did as he said and he continued. "Yeah, my dad just told me."

"Huh, well that was short lived." The Nara raised an eyebrow at her insensitive statement. Ippan didn't notice his change in expression until she looked up from her bowl of ramen.

"What?" He continued to stare. "What did you expect me to say?

"Well, I never know what to expect when I talk to you Ippan." He stated.

"Hey, Danzo fired me from my job." The girl said in a matter of fact tone. "He said I wasn't fit to work in my position because I was a civilian and a rather 'talentless one at that'." Shikamaru could tell that there was more to this story.

"And then?"

"Obviously I had to defend myself. I told him that he couldn't fire me because we're twinsies. 'Cause you know, we're both physically impaired. He didn't like that very much. So I was escorted out. " Ippan said slurping the noodles.

"I don't think anyone would have appreciated that."

She thought about it before shrugging. "Probably not, but when do I ever think before I speak?"

"That's a fair point."

"So since Danzo is...uh out, who is going to be the new official Hokage?" Ippan asked. Tsunade hadn't woken up yet and people were starting to wonder if she ever would. Regardless if she was still unconscious the leaf village still had to go on.

"It's been decided that Kakashi will become the Hokage since Danzo was never officially appointed as the sixth." Shikamaru said.

This new turn of events peaked Ippan's curiosity as she looked up with a questioning tilt in her head. "Really?"

"Yeah it would seem so."

"Well that's definitely interesting." She said leaning back against a large stack of wood laying outside her tent. Her emerald eyes, well, eye gazed out at the scene in front of her. The village finally looked to be making some progress with reconstruction.

"Ippan." She glanced over to Shikamaru who was looking at her like everyone else. With pity. "How are you holding up?"

Despite his expression she smiled. "Fine thanks for asking bestie. Do you know that my mom won't stop talking about you."

"Your mom?" He questioned.

She nodded. "You're the hero who saved her epic daughter after all."

His lips quirked up slightly as he looked away with a shrug. "Epic? Do I know anyone like that?"

Ippan gasped in sarcastic surprise. "Huh, is that a joke I hear and from a Nara no less? I didn't think they were capable enough to do that."

He rolled his eyes. "I think you're taking a jab at the wrong clan." They both immediately thought of the Hyuugas.

"True, but they're all pretty so it's okay." She grinned at him as he shook his head. "Though I guess you're right, the Nara's are just lazy."

Shikamaru raised his eye brow at her. "What's with the insults? Are you trying to start a fight with me?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because I'm bored, jobless, homeless and crippled." She said all this with a wide grin and Shikamaru couldn't tell if she was genuinely sad or not. "I just want the old lady to wake up." There was a silence before the boy spoke up again.

"We're going after Sasuke, and he might need to die."

Ippan turned to him in surprise. "What? Why?" Not that she particularly cared about Sasuke, but Naruto did so this was news to her.

"Sasuke's a rogue ninja and he's the one that killed Danzo."

"Wow."

Shikamaru sighed. "Yeah, but Naruto is insisting on doing it all by himself and won't tell anyone what happened between them. You mind talking some sense into him?"

"How am I supposed to do that? I don't have much sense myself." She answered.

"Yet another fair point." He said.

"Hey, your're suppose to say: _Oh_ _no Ippan, you're the smartest girl I know._ " She said attempting to mock his tone.

The boy gave her an amused look. "Like you said, Nara's are lazy not liars."

"That hurts me. That hurts me deep."

"No it doesn't." She paused for a moment before nodded in agreement.

"You know me well."

"Yeah well, I don't think that's a good thing." He replied, standing to his feet.

Ippan set down her bowl and peered up at the boy. He looked tired and stressed. "Are you heading back?"

Shikamaru yawned before stretching his arms over his head. "Yeah, I've got some other stuff I need to look into. I just thought I'd check and see how you're doing."

"Aw, well ain't that sweet. You deserve a kiss." She teased with a genuine appreciative smile forming on her face.

"I'd rather not."

She shrugged. "They all come around eventually."

"Not this time." He said as he watched her adjust the bandaged around her eye. "Hey, you sure you're okay?"

"Don't worry bud. I'm fine." She assured. "And if I'm not then I guess we'll find that out eventually."

His expression dropped into a frown."You're a real headache, you know that?"

"If I'm a headache then I'm the kind everyone hopes they get."

"Troublesome." He grumbled. "That's a weird narcissistic way of thinking."

"Well no one else is complimenting me, so I might as well do it myself."

"Yeah, but no one else gives compliments like that."

"I know that's why they're so special." She exclaimed as if it was obvious. "I could give you one right now."

"If it has anything to do with your hair fetish I don't want to hear it."

"..."


	44. Stranger Things

Ippan sat on a stack of wood as she looked at the ninja and carpenters rebuild the village. Konoha was slowly being brought back to life and she had to say she was impressed. Ippan swung her legs back and forth as she attempted to tie the stems of white poppy flowers together. Trying to make a crown with a fractured wrist was a bit more challenging than she thought it would be. She stuck out her tongue in an attempt to concentrate before it slipped out of her fingers, landing on the ground in front of her.

"Aw man." She sighed. Though it wasn't that far down, but all the effort that she put into getting on top of the ply wood was comparable to a literal battle in it's self. If she got down now all that work would have been for nothing. Contemplating whether or not she should get down an older man with gray hair and glasses walked by her. Seeing her chance she called out to him. "Hey, sir!"

He slowly looked up to her with a raised eyebrow. "Yes?"

"Could you hand me those flowers down there?" Ippan smiled down at the man as he paused for a moment before picking them up.

"How...why are you sitting up there?" He asked as he handed them back to her.

The girl shrugged. "Mm, I'm not too sure myself. I did it on impulse really." He nodded his head in understanding before adjusting his glasses to squint at her.

"I've met you before haven't I?" His question had her tilting her head.

Had she met him before? She'd met a lot of people so names and faces would sometimes got jumbled in her mind. Then it hit her. "Oooh yeah, you're the reformed drunken bridge builder, right?"

He blinked at the sudden statement. "Reformed drunken bridge builder?"

Ippan nodded. "Yeah, Naruto told me all about you." He stared. Maybe that wasn't something she should say to a complete stranger. '"He said you were nice and you named a bridge after him."

"So you are a friend of his." He mumbled. "What's your name?"

"Ippan." She said with an easy going smile.

"Ah, I remember that name being mentioned a few times." He stated with a nod.

Her smile widened. "So Naruto did talk about me? I knew I was too awesome to keep out of mind." She paused. "What was your name sir?"

"Tazuna." The man said.

"It's nice to meet you again Tazuna. Sorry if I was rude." She said with a smile as she adjusted her legs in her seating position. "Do you want a flower crown?"

He blinked before questioning what she'd just said. "A what?"

"A flower crown. You know, a crown made of flowers." Ippan held up the line of attached petals by the stem. "This one is for my dad, but I can make you one too."

"Um, thanks for the gesture, but I think I'll be alright." His expression looked as though he wasn't sure what else to say. "I'd better get back to work now."

"Okay." She said with a shrug and smile. "See you around."

 _Strange kid_. Tazuna thought to himself with a shake of his head.

Ippan continued to sit and watch the construction work because for now she was dead to the world. Tsunade had gone on to some meeting to talk with the other land leaders about a rumored war. Though the rumors among the civilians were now becoming closer to reality than they realized. The soon to be battle was hot on Konoha's heel, but all Ippan could do was wait. To put things bluntly she was bored and a bit lonely. She should have thought about her choice in friends a bit more. Or at least stop driving others away with her unfiltered mouth. Then maybe she wouldn't be sitting alone watching people rebuild the village as entertainment.

From the corner of her eye she saw familiar figures walking by. A long green scarf flopped behind one of the children. Ippan grinned, this would be fun. "Hey, Konohamaru!" The children looked around before turning to see the girl. Moegi waved to her with a smile as they walked over and stared up at her.

"What are you doing up there?" Udon questioned.

"Watching the construction."

"That sounds boring." Konohamaru stated. "Why would you want to do something like that?"

"It's not that bad." _Besides, I have nothing else to do._ "What are you three up to?"

"We've been patrolling the village, trying to see if anyone is in need of anything." Moegi explained.

"Since Naruto is gone and the village is getting low on ninja to protect it. We've decided to take responsibility." Konohamaru stated with a proud expression.

Ippan shook her head and pretended to wipe away a tear. "Aw, my babies are growing up."

"Hey we're not babies!" He yelled pointing a finger up at the girl. "We've been over this Ippan I'm a ninja now you can't keep calling me your baby."

The girl grinned. _This was the fun part_. She shrugged her shoulders. "Sure I can, I've adopted you all as my children."

"Really?" Udon asked. The older girl nodded. "I didn't know that. I guess I'll have to tell my mom I have a new mother."

"What!" Konohamaru yelled. "Udon don't feed into it or she'll never stop!"

Ippan shook her head with a playful mocking smile. It was fun to rile up the kid. "Ah see that's where you went wrong. You assume that your reaction will keep me from doing what I want. Sorry to say that you're wrong."

"No you're not." He said with a frown. Ippan shrugged.

Moegi tilted her head with a raised eyebrow. "What are you working on?"

She picked up her project to show the children."A flower crown. Do you want to make one with me?"

"Well I don't know we were patrolling..." She trailed off looking at her teammates.

"But we have been at it all day." Udon continues glancing over to Konohamaru.

He sighs. "Oh alright, _but_ just for a few minutes." The three easily climbed up next to her and sat on top of the wood.

 _I envy these children_. "Hey, Ippan?" Moegi called.

"Hm?"

"So you've been friends with Naruto for a long time right?" The girl nodded. "Kids have been wanting to know more about him since he defeated Pein. What was he like before?"

"Yeah, what was the boss like before?" Konohamaru added

Ippan raised her eyebrow. "Before? Naruto isn't really all that different...but I guess his anger is more in check now. Other then that not much has changed."

"Oh come on you have to have some stories, right?" The boy persisted. "Something that the boss would never tell us."

"Well if Naruto would never tell you then what makes you think that I'd just blurt it out." The three looked at her with a knowing gaze. "Okay, fine I would. What do you want to know?"

"Anything is fine." Udon said as the others nodded.

"Mm, I mean. We never really did anything interesting." She paused in thought. "He was really into painting...everything when he was younger. He got the whole village one time. My mom didn't really like him at the time so I got him to paint his room. Whenever I came over it was an ugly brownish color. Of course he wanted orange, but I convinced him that the world can only take so much orange at once."

She turned to the kids who looked at her with wide eyes. "What?"

"You've been to Naruto's room!" Konohamaru asked.

"Yeah, all the time. We had sleepovers when we were about your age and he came over to my house too. It's no big deal." She said putting the crown on the boy's head. "Aw, aren't you cute."

He deadpanned. "You can't just brush me off."

"I'm not." He blinked when she poked his nose. "He's just my best buddy slash husband."

There was a moment of silence before Udon spoke up. "Wait, so is the boss our dad now?"

"I guess, but I'm married to Gaara too so you guys have two fathers."

"Oh, then I'll have to tell my mom _and_ dad that I have all new parents now." Ippan grinned. She liked this kid.

"Wait, wait, wait, does either of them even know?" The young Sarutobi asked. He wondered how anyone could blurt such strange things out of there mouth without a second thought. Though by now he'd become accustom to _some_ of their odd interactions.

"Sure Naruto does and Tsunade said she would inform Gaara of his marriage at this war meeting." She smiled.

Moegi raised an amused eyebrow with a lopsided smile. "Ippan, you're weird."

"I'll take that as a compliment."


	45. The Duck Returns

Ippan stared up at the ceiling waiting for her unconscious friend to wake up. The nurse said that he would need his rest since he had overexerted himself. Though she was allowed to visit as long as she was quiet. She'd been sitting next to him for almost an hour with nothing to do. Which should have been expected because from just looking at the younger boy, he was absolutely exhausted. He looked bruised and beaten even though she had heard they were victorious.

Her fingers reached for his hair and lightly touched his scalp. Ippan glanced down when she heard a groan. Naruto squinted open his eyes and slowly sat up. The fact that neither were talking wasn't as awkward as they expected. Of course Naruto had been gone much longer before and it hadn't been tense then either.

"So." Ippan said deciding to brake the silence. Naruto glanced over to her through the corner of his bruised eyes and wrinkled his cut lips to speak.

"...so..."

She smiled. "You're back."

He returned the gesture. "Yeah, I'm back..."

Alright she might as well get it out of the way now. "I see your arm is missing."

"It is. I thought that would be the first thing that you'd bring up." His voice was solemn and he seemed to be completely alright with his absent appendage.

"Nope, it was the second. I've been trying to be more sensitive to peoples feelings _._ "

He raised his left eyebrow. "Since when do you care about how people feel?"

"Hey, I care about _your_ feelings." The girl paused. "Besides I didn't see you using any restraint when you saw that my eye was gone."

Naruto thought for a moment before answering with a shrug of his shoulders. "Fair enough."

Ippan leaned back in her seat as her gaze fell to the floor. "I heard the duck is missing limbs too."

The younger boy furrowed his brow. "The duck...you mean Sasuke?"

"Obviously. I suppose I could have said duck-butt, but it didn't feel like the right time." _You know, since he'd been raining terror on everyone and everything in his path._

"And the duck sounded better to you?"

"Yes." She answered simply. "So did you guys cut off each others arms or something?"

"And there's the Ippan I know." He smiled, but she could see that he sounded tired and sad.

"Hey I'm curious and it's not as if I'm going to ask the duck what happened." She didn't care much for Sasuke nor did she trust him. Despite the fact that Naruto actually managed to bring him back into the village. After the war and the other trials he went through- he still kept his promise, which she respected. Naruto had been determined for a long time to bring him home and he did. However, that wasn't going to change her opinion about the Uchiha. At least not yet.

"I don't really know him." Ippan continued, trying her best not to show her distaste for the guy. _And I don't want to._ Her gaze went back to his and she saw his slightly disgruntle expression. She understood that Sasuke was his long time friend and rival, but it wasn't enough for her to like him. " _But_ I have to say, I'm proud of you for everything you've done. Even bringing Sasuke back." She grinned as he shook his head.

The blond relaxed his body slightly against the pillow. "Well that means a lot coming from you."

The girl narrowed her eyes. "I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not."

He smirked. "That's the point."

Ippan sighed. "Ah, I've taught you too well, it's scary." His lips curled up for a moment longer before slowly falling back into an even expression. "What is it?"

"We'll be having a funeral soon." Ippan saw that he had more to say as he continued. "It's for Neji."

The girl pursed her lips. "Oh..." _I'll make sure to give my condolences to Hinata when I see her._ "I'm sorry, I've heard you all have been through a lot. I can't even imagine."

He sighed. "Yeah well..."

She could see that he was feeling conflicted. "Hug?"

Naruto nodded holding out his good arm, well, only arm. "Hug."

She carefully moved over to embrace him with a light pat to his back and ruffling his hair. Normally he would fret about her rubbing his head because he felt as if she was treating him like a child. However, Naruto was too tired today for that and he was just glad to have his friend.

"I told you, they all give in eventually." The smile that was beginning to form on his face quickly faded into a deadpan.

He pulled away and looked up at her form. "You had to ruin it, didn't you?"

"I wouldn't be Ippan if I didn't." Naruto decided to accept her answer. "On the bright side, I don't need to wear the sling on my arm anymore. Now I'm free to..." They stared at each other for a moment before Naruto sighed.

"Ippan I'm telling you it's fine. I'm alright, Tsunade said that she would have a way to help me with my injury and I trust her." He stated.

"What do you mean, like make you another arm?" She questioned curiously.

"Something like that. We haven't had much time to talk about it." Naruto explained.

"Wow." Sometimes it slipped her mind how the shinobi world really worked. "I've also heard you're pretty much the hero of the world right now."

The boy looked at her questioningly. "Where did you hear something like that?"

"Well from what I've heard, ninja have told the villagers and the villagers told Konohamaru. Who's been running through the streets telling anyone else who hasn't heard. Which I happened to hear." She stated. "Also he's my son now."

Naruto blinked. "What? But he has parents."

Ippan put a hand to her chin. "Does he though? Because I never hear about them."

"So what you're saying is that if you haven't actually seen his parents they don't exist?" He asked in disbelief.

"Yep."

"That's ridiculous."

"Well, everyone knows that the first rule of anime is that nobody has parents." They stared at each other.

"Wha-"

"Nothing." She interrupted.

Now Naruto was starting to get concerned. "Are you sure you're alright? Has you're concussion had any side effects."

Ippan propped her arms on the edge of the bed. "Well, I think since I developed a concussion I've been seeing things more clearly."

Hearing this the boy frowned. "Well, _I_ don't think that's something healthy people say." The girl attempted to speak before she was interrupted. "Don't say it."

"You don't even know what I was going to say." She said in a sulking tone.

" _Say's the boy in the hospital_ , sound about right?" She closed her mouth and shrugged.

"Touche', but to be fair I don't sound like that."

"I know you well enough by now, dattebayo." He paused. "And yes you do."

"I do n-" Suddenly the door opened and they both looked up to see Tsunade. She walked into the room. "Oh hey there, long time gone forever."

Tsunade blinked. "I'm pretty sure that's not how that saying goes."

Naruto put's a hand on top of Ippan's violet curled hair moving her neck slightly. "Hey granny do you think you can check out this girls head ? She's been saying some weird stuff, like weirder than usual."

"Well there will be more time later to worry about why Ippan isn't normal." _True_ , she thought. "Right now I need to speak with you about what you're going to do about that injury."

This seemed like something they needed to talk about in private. Ippan decided it was time for her to leave. "Well I'd better get going."

"You don't need to do that." Naruto said.

"Sure I do." She replied with a smile. "Besides I don't want to stay any longer to hear you mock the way I speak, _dattebayo_."

He squinted his eyes at her. "You're right you do need to leave."

The girl smirked. "See you later buddy." When she went to walk out of the room Tsunade called.

"Oh Ippan I almost forgot. This is for you." She pulled something from her pocket. Ippan looked down at the tattered and slightly dirtied scroll. "Sorry about the condition it's in."

"Who it is from?" Her eye looked over it curiously.

The older woman resisted the urge to grin. "Open it and you'll find out."

"Okay...I'll do that." Ippan walked out of the room and started down the hall. It was quieter than what she would have expected after a major war. Ippan looked down at the scroll as she attempted to open it, but was knocked to the ground moments later. Peering up she was internally surprised to see Sasuke standing in front of her.

It felt like deja vu. She pulled herself off the the floor. Standing to her feet she looked up at the boy. She hadn't seen him since he'd left the village nearly three years ago. He'd changed a lot. She tilted her head and circled around him to look at his hair.

"Mm, nope. Still a duck." His expression said that he wanted to question it, but decided not to. "You know you should be resting right?"

"I'm fine." _I'm sure you are,_ she thought. "You're..."

"Ippan." She finished. "You probably don't remember me."

"No, I remember you." Her left eyebrow raised in surprise. "You were the eccentric girl that always hung out with Naruto."

She shrugged. "I'll take it." Ippan shifted from side to side. "Well despite being beaten and missing like half your arm, these years have not been bad to you." _It almost makes me mad that the duck is actually attractive. But he's definitely not going on the husband list. Sakura can have him._

"Hn." Whatever that meant.

"Take care of yourself, duckie." For a moment she swore that he looked confused. When she blinked the expression was gone. She began to walk past him and she decided it was a good time to open the scroll.

 _Ippan Shinpuru, it has been brought to my attention that we are married. However, there must be some sort of confusion with our customs. In Suna, both people need to be present to complete a marriage ceremony. My advisory states that perhaps you wish to court me. In all honesty, I have never dealt with circumstances like this before. So to put aside anymore questions I'd like to communicate in person to discuss the matter. The fifth Hokages has granted you permission to come to Suna to speak about the situation. I will be waiting for your reply in the near future._

 _Gaara of the Sand_

Ippan slowly looked away from the scroll. "Um, what?"


	46. When Life Doesn't Give You Lemons

"I'm still confused on why I'm bringing you anywhere, Ippan." Shikamaru said as he walked beside Temari.

"You're telling me." She mumbled. "I can't believe that he actually took it seriously. I only joked that maybe Ippan had a crush on him and was trying to get his attention."

"Hey, I'm just as confused as everyone else." Ippan said "But sometimes things just happen. What are you gonna do, right?"

"What do you mean 'what are you gonna do?', Ippan you could have cleared up the misunderstanding with a simple reply." Shikamaru stated in disbelief. "Instead you accepted the invitation."

"Well when life doesn't give you lemons, you just have to borrow the resources from someone who does."

"What does that even mean?" He asked.

"You're the genius here, you figure it out." The girl teased.

He shoved his hands into his pockets and kept his gaze forward. "I don't know, I still associate with you so maybe not."

Ippan held a hand up to her chest as if she was hurt by his words. Of course she wasn't, but playing the part was still fun. "You do know you didn't actually have to escort me to the village. Tsunade could have gotten someone else."

"Yeah, but I doubt anyone else could handle you're troublesome personality." He said with a slight smirk.

She spun around so that she was walking backwards while facing them. "I'll take you're compliment with stride."

Temari raised her left eyebrow before speaking. "In all seriousness what are you going to tell Gaara. We'll be arriving shortly and I think you should think carefully about what you're going to say."

Ippan laughed and patted the older girl's shoulder. "Oh Temari, I know we don't talk often, but I'll clue you in on a secret: I never think anything through. I'm all about brash decisions."

Temari turned to Shikamaru who looked at him for some support. He shrugged. "It's true, she broke into my house once." Her eyes widened. "I still don't know why you didn't use the front door. My parents talked about it for weeks."

"Well, I wouldn't have need to if you'd just answered the door."

"In what the two seconds that you waited?"

"Yes."

Shikamaru sighed. "Whatever."

"But really Ippan, you're going to have to tell Gaara something and it has to make sense." Temari said bringing the conversation back to reality.

The girl looked up at the sky with her single eye. "It's a nice day." Temari looked as though she wanted to yell at the lavender haired girl. "Suna is my lemons you guys."

Okay now she really was going to yell. "I literally just asked you to say something coherent."

Ippan turned to her with a smile. "And I did. You guys I'm a civilian. I've never been out of the leaf village a day in my life, so this is honestly pretty exciting for me. Yes, I'm going to go talk about my _marriage_ , but I'll take it and make lemonade."

"So you accepted the invitation simply to get out of the village?" The older girl questioned. "What about the fact that my brother is taking this seriously?"

"That's a problem that we should probably address...when we get there." Ippan said.

"Alright fine." Temari finally gave in. "You win." She grinned in victory.

When they reached Suna the was almost overwhelmed. _This is where my father grew up,_ she thought to herself. Speaking of her father, he was surprisingly alright with the whole ordeal. Her mother on the other hand couldn't understand why the Kazekage would even care, let alone take her seriously. After all, why would anyone do that?

Ippan would have been insulted if she hadn't already agreed with her.

"I gotta say, for a desert this sure is cool." She said with a wide smile as she looked up at the buildings. She circled around and stared up at the scenery. She continued to do so until she bumped into someone behind her. Turning around, she peered up to see a guy with makeup painted across his face. He glanced down at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Sorry." Is all she said before taking a step back.

"Kankuro, you do know we were coming to you right?" Temari questioned.

"Yeah, but I was just informed that you had entered the village and my curiosity was killing me." Kankuro glanced back to Ippan with a quirk of his lips. "So you're the girl who proposed to Gaara?"

"Yep." She said. "But to be fair, it wasn't really a proposal more on the fact that we're already married."

His grin widened. "You should have seen his face when the fifth Hokage just randomly came out with it. We were in the middle of planning our battle strategy for the war. That really lightened the mood."

Ippan began to grin along with him. "I can't even imagine, sounds funny though."

"Oh believe me it was, the other leaders started asking who you were. Even I was getting curious. Mean while Gaara just sitting there trying to keep from looking confused."

The whole situation sounded like something she would have enjoyed seeing. _I like this guy_. "You're funny."

"You're not bad either Ippan." The two continued to talk as they walked on ahead while Temari and Shikamaru slowly followed behind them.

"What just happened?" She questioned

"You learn to just accept it." He said with a shrug.

When they reached the Kazekage's office Kankuro knocked on the door. "Hey, Gaara our special visitor has finally arrived."

"You may come in." Upon hearing that Ippan opened the door to see Gaara sitting at a desk not much different than Tsunade's. She looked him over with an approving nod.

"You're looking good." She stated bluntly.

"...thank you, I appreciate the sentiment." He seemed to placing his words carefully. "And the letters as well."

"Wait, letters?" Shikamaru questioned quietly. "I thought you were banned from the carrier birds?"

"I have my ways." He supposed that was best answer he was going to get.

"I'm sure you are tired from you're journey, so I had a room arranged for you." Gaara said.

"Thanks bestie." Ippan smiled before a thought came to mind. "So should we talk about this today or..."

" _This_ meaning the confusion of customs? The option is yours." He said holding a solemn expression. Temari, Kankuro and Shikamaru slowly started to leave the room.

Ippan lifted her shoulders, pulling on the straps of the bag. "I'd rather not leave the subject in the air. You see it's not a confusion of customs. I actually never thought you'd take me seriously."

Gaara stared for a moment before speaking. "So then...it was only confusion on my part?" Ippan nodded. "Then why accept the invitation, rather than correct me?"

"I felt like this was my chance to finally get out of the leaf village, if not just one time." She decided to come clean and be honest. "I didn't want to lie to you or anything."

For a moment things were quiet. "I see." Is all he said. She could tell that Gaara was processing the new information that he was given.

"Are you mad?"

"No, I'm not mad. I was actually thinking of polite ways to decline the proposal. This is easier."

Ippan blinked. "Oh."

Gaara nodded. "I took the word of others that you might be looking to court me, but I knew the chances were unlikely. From the letter you write you say things that are out of the ordinary on a regular basis."

"Well I don't know about that. I mean yeah, you're half right." She leaned over the back end of the chair behind her and flipped her legs forwards to that she was sitting correctly. "I mean I _do_ have a thing for you, but I don't actually want to get legally marrired."

For a moment the red head was lost. "A thing?" He didn't know what that meant.

"Yeah, a crush." He still seemed lost. "It means I like you."

Now he get's it. "Oh, so am I right to assume you do want to court me?"

"Well yes and no. It just means just what I said before." They were both silent as Ippan waited for him to respond. She was fine if he didn't like her. In all fairness, she used his invitation as an excuse to do as she pleased.

"This has never happened to me before." He finally said with a somber expression as if he was putting some real thought into it. Which wasn't necessary.

"What, being liked?" He nodded. "I'm sure it has."

"Well if it has they aren't as forward as you are."

"That's true." The girl said with a nodded of agreement. "But you don't have to do anything. If you don't like me, it's cool."

The red head cross his arms over his chest. "The first time I met you I thought: _'she's probably an idiot'._ "

"You're entitled to you're opinion."

Gaara continued on. "You've written many letters. Some I don't even quite understand and you're always very blunt, a quality that I can respect." He paused. "You are a friend and an interesting one at that."

"Aw, bestie."

"Perhaps we can get to know each other better first."

"That might be a bit hard to do if I'm in Konoha." _More illegal letters I guess._

"You're welcome to come to Suna whenever you like."

Ippan grinned. "Cool."


	47. Anime vs Manga

"And that's how I got Foxy to send the letters to you." Ippan had just finished as she sat back in her seat. Well, the Kazekage's seat, but he didn't seem to care at all.

"...Foxy is an anbu?" He questioned making sure he understood correctly.

"Yep, he won't tell me his name so I just made one up. Plus, his mask looks like a fox." She explained.

"I wondered how you were able to send me anything after I was told that you were prohibited from using the carrier birds." Gaara paused. "That's quite resourceful. Though I don't think that's legal seeing that you _are_ the Hokage's assistant."

"Mm, I wouldn't say it's against the rules. I only asked a shinobi to send secret under the radar messages to the Kazekage." They stared at one another. "You're right. Don't tell Tsunade."

He spoke with a solemn expression and a calm tone. "Well I'd be inclined to considering I am a village leader. That wouldn't setting a very good example."

"Come on bestie, put friends before responsibility...honesty and being respectable."

"You are aware that you're digging yourself into a whole."

"I brought my own shovel." She blinked when she saw a small smile form at the corner of his mouth. "Are you teasing me?"

"Perhaps."

Ippan grinned and crossed her arms over her chest. "...is this real life right now? Is the great desert panda making a joke _and_ smiling? We have to release this to the public. This just in: a panda expressed his feelings."

"I don't think anyone will know who you're talking about."

The girl smirked. "Yeah they will."

Gaara paused."Do people actually call me that?"

"It's catching on." He gave her a questioning look. She would have thought he was raising his eyebrow, but he didn't have any.

"Hey why don't you have eyebrows?" There was no answer. "I've always wondered."

"Is it a problem that I don't?"

"Oh no, don't get me wrong you're still cute. It's just been on my mind." The red head blinked at the compliment. The girl had been slipping in comments like that at random. Something he was sure he'd never fully get use to.

Though Gaara couldn't exactly answer her question considering he didn't know either. "Because I don't."

Ippan paused before shrugging. "Okay." She turned in the chair towards the papers on his desk. "You know if you put these in alphabetical order and then categorized them by subject. Which by the way, should be dated by the event followed by a sub-unit ...this would be a lot easier to manage."

There was another pregnant pause. "Really?" Is all he said.

"Yeah, sorry I'm just spouting off. I've been organizing papers for so long, whenever I see things out of line I have to do something about it." She began to organize the papers into folders on his desk.

"I suppose that's to be expected since you are the Hokage's assistant." Ippan watched him as he leaned against the desk. "Speaking of, is it alright for you to be here since a change will be happening soon."

"A change, you mean the new Hokage?" She questioned. He nodded. "Sure, I mean I got all of my work done before coming out here to see you guys. Besides I like hanging out with you guys."

Ippan had made it a part of her routine to tag along with Shikamaru whenever he came to Suna. Kankuro had actually expressed that it was cool having her around. The fact that someone willingly wanted to spend time with her was interesting enough. So she made an agreement with Tsunade to spend a few days every other month in Suna as long as she finished her work ahead of time. It wasn't easy at first but it had been quite some time since she decided to go about this schedule.

"Besides Kakashi will be coming into office soon and he'll be in charge of who he wants as his advisory, assistant and who ever else." She explained as she rested her hands underneath her chin. "So I could be out of the job soon." She grinned as if it was a punchline to a joke which confused the younger boy. It shouldn't be amusing to be unemployed, but he decided not to comment on it.

"Have you ever thought about doing something else?"

"Not really, I mean I like to eat, but sadly there isn't a career for that." She shrugged. "Oh well, such is life."

"Well, perhaps..." Gaara started though he seemed to be thinking about something quite hard.

Ippan tilted her head in a questioning manner. "Perhaps what?" Before he could get out what he was going to say the door opened.

Baki walked in with his head still looking down at papers he held in his hand. "Lord Kazekage, I think we should discuss the matter regarding the-" He cut himself short when he looked over at the girl sitting in the Kazekage's chair with a deadpan. She looked at him with a smile.

"Hey, Baki."

The man sighed. "Ippan, how many times do I have to tell you shouldn't be sitting there."

"A lot, but to be fair Gaara seems fine with it."

"I'm fine with it." He answered.

"See he's cool."

"It doesn't change. The fact of the matter is that...never mind." Ippan could see that they had important things to talk about and she wasn't going to get int their way.

She stood up and stretched out her legs. "Well I'm gonna go find something to do. See you guys later." Ippan walked around the desk and closed the door behind her.

Gaara took this moment to sit down in his seat to look at the neatly stacked folders in front of him. "Mm." He said. In the time that they had been talking Ippan had organized most of which was scattered on his desk. It wasn't an outstanding skill, but it could be useful.

"Baki sensei." The man turned toward him with questioning expression.

"Yes, lord Kazekage?"

"I'm going to write a message addressed to the fifth Hokage and I'd like it to be sent by tomorrow morning."

"May I ask what for?"

For a moment he didn't say anything. "Is there a position for an assistant available?"

* * *

Ippan watched the sun went down as she walked down the street. She shivered as she wrapped her jacket closer to her body. The desert was cold when it gets dark. "Mm, maybe I should just go back to my room." Suddenly her stomach growled. "After I eat."

"Hey, Ippan." The glance to her right when she saw Kankuro, Matsuri and her team mates. "Where are you headed?"

"To eat." It was her top priority at the moment. "What about you guys?"

Kankuro spoke up. "We were actually about to do the same. It's funny how we all met up like this."

"Yeah it's like convenience is the only way the plot can move forward." Ippan said stuffing her hands into her pockets.

Mikoshi furrowed his brow in confusion. "The plot...what is she-"

"Don't question in." Matsuri said before turning to lavender haired girl with a smile. "So how has your day been?"

"It's alright I guess, but oh- we can confirm the panda is able to smile."

"Really? When?" Yukata asked. "Today?"

"Yep."

"Wait, am I missing something? Who is the panda?" Mikoshi asked. Any time this girl spoke it was like a whole new language was formed.

"It's lord Kazekage, silly. Because he looks like a cute little desert animal." Yukata swooned. "I could just squeeze him."

Ippan raised her left eyebrow. _And Gaara thinks I'm forward._ "Anyway, I need you guys to start spreading around the name so that it'll catch on."

"Why?" Mikoshi asked.

"Because I told Gaara it would and it will." The boy looked as if he wanted to speak but decided that it was a lost cause. "So Kankuro, is tomorrow finally the day we have our epic puppet adventure?"

"Yeah I guess, but I don't see how it'll be an adventure." Kankuro said with a shrug. "I'm only showing you my work shop."

"It's called using your imagination." Ippan spread her hands apart and shook them lightly. "Insert rainbow here."

"Ippan, you're so weird." Matsuri said.

"Aw thanks." She said with a grin.

"I don't think that was a compliment." Mikoshi said.

Ippan continued to smile as she looked at him. "And you're not in the manga." He decided to stop talking. A wise choice.


	48. The Unknown Apology

"Hey did you get a haircut?" Ippan asked as she casually fluffed a hand through Naruto's blondness.

He nodded. "Yeah I did, a while back actually."

"Really?"

"Well you would know if you were here more." His looked at her from the corner of his eye with a sulking expression.

"Oh hush your face Mr. I'll only be gone for 2 years- oh wait psych that's the wrong number. "

Naruto groaned. "You're still holding that over my head? When will you let it go?"

"Never." She said, leaning back on her hands as she felt the grass underneath her palms. The two were currently in the park and it felt like old times. A point in their lives where neither really had friends and now look at them. Naruto was basically the savior of the world and well Ippan, she didn't feel any different.

"So, you've been going to Suna a lot more lately. " The girl glanced over at the boy as he spoke up.

"Mm, yeah. It's nice there and I like the people. I'm pretty sure Kankuro is my Suna best friend. We go on puppet adventures. He didn't understand it at first but I think he's getting the gits of it."

"So I'm being replaced?" Naruto questioning expression.

Ippan poked him in his cheek. "Quit your pouting. I said best friend in _Suna._ You're my best friend all around. So there's no replacing you." She smiled at him.

"I wasn't pouting."

"Is that all you heard? I just said something sincere and loving. You should appreciate it."

He grinned at her. "Well from my experience, if you're being sincere you shouldn't expect anything in return."

"But I'm Ippan."

"...that's true." Ippan quirked up the corner of her mouth and leaned her back against Naruto's shoulder. People walking by glanced over and whispered among themselves. After a few moments of silence Naruto spoke. "Hey, you know people think we're dating right?"

"Really? Ew." Is all she said.

"Ew?" He repeated. "So you're okay with us being married, but dating is out of the question?"

Ippan took this time to turn around and look up at the boy. "Do you want people to think we're dating?"

"No, not really."

"Well there you go." She opened a bag of chips and tapped it on his chest. "Want one?"

He shook his head. "No I ate before we met up."

She shrugged. "Anyway, it would be weird. Considering I've raised you."

Naruto gave her a look of disbelief. " _You_ raised me?"

"Yeah I did, half the things you were going to do wrong- I stopped you from doing them. I also fed and housed you." She explained. "You're basically my son."

Naruto made a face at her. "No I'm not."

"Yes you are."

"Well I disown you." He said as he moved over causing her to fall back into the grass.

Ippan looked up at him and held a hand over her chest. "You're breaking my heart."

"No I'm not, you still have your best friends in Suna." He said.

"Oh don't act like you haven't cheated on me with Sasuke."

"What? No! He's not even in the village?" The boy defended.

"Ah ha! So you admit that it's a possibility. All these years it's been a running gag, but to find out it's true? I can't even bare it."

Naruto furrowed his brow. "What are you even talking about? How can I cheat on you if I'm your son?"

"That's a question I don't have an answer for. It's really based on the fact that I can't make up my mind." Ippan said with a shrug.

"I can't say that I've missed this about you." He mumbled.

"Well I _can_ say that I miss your hair. Bring it back."

"Shikamaru told me about your weird hair fetish."

"No comment." She said as she crossed her arms over her chest. They sat in silence and looked up at the clouds.

"So I heard that Kakashi will be the Hokage at the end of the month." Naruto said. Ippan opened her eyes and glanced over at him.

"Yep." She said with a sigh. "Where's my welfare becomes I'm unemployed." She smiled as she always did when something wasn't going as it should. A characteristic he could never understand, but he knew she wasn't okay with it.

"So what...are you gonna do?" Naruto asked.

She shrugged. "I don't know yet. My dad said that he'd help me, but I told him no."

"Why would you do that?"

"My dad got me my first job when I graduated and the only reason I got it was because of his connections. I don't want that to happen again. Tsunade gave me a job because of me and that's how I want it to be." She explained.

Naruto looked at her for a moment longer before facing forward. "I can understand that. I'm the same."

Ippan smiled up at him. "I remember when you were little and wanted everyone to notice you. Then the bright orange frenzy went to a whole new level with that jump suit of your's."

"Hey, you said you liked the jump suit and orange is a great color." He defended.

"Nope, green is better."

"Then why don't you ever where it?" Naruto asked. "I've seen your closet and it's literally all black."

"Hey, I said green is the best color. I didn't say I was going to wear it." She said in a matter of fact tone.

He looked at her in confusion before shaking his head. If he's learned anything over the years it's that there was no point in asking 'why'. As he opened his mouth to speak a familiar figure dropped down in front of them.

"Shino hey!" Ippan said with a smile.

"Hello." Is all he said. Which was all she needed. She didn't usually talk to the guy, but Ippan thought he was just the coolest. Whenever she expressed this to Naruto he could never understand her interests despite him being a friend as well.

"What brings you to the good 'ol park?" She asked.

"Yeah, did you need something from us?" Naruto asked. Of course Ippan assumed that he was here for Naruto.

Putting a hand on Naruto's shoulder and tilting her head. "Do you need our favorite blond?"

"On the contrary it's you, Ippan." She blinked. "The Hokage has summoned you."

"Oh. Why are you telling me?"

"I had prior business with the Hokage and she asked me to deliver the news." He explained. _That makes sense_ , she thought.

"Okay." Ippan slowly stood to her feet and dusted off her clothes. Peering down at her blue eyed friend, she put out a hand for him. He took it as she pulled him to his feet. "I guess I'll see you later. You're still coming over for dinner right?"

"Yeah, of course. I wouldn't miss it. After all Ikari invited me ." Naruto smiled at the disgust that formed on her face.

"Ugh, please don't call my mom by her first name. It makes me uncomfortable."

"I know, that's why I do it." It was pay back for all the years she call Kakashi her husband.

"On second thought maybe you shouldn't come over."

"No, no, I made a promise to Ikari and I can't let her down." He said.

Ippan frowned. "You're enjoying this aren't you."

"Very much." He said with a fox like grin.

"Well I'm leaving before I lose the ability to hold down my lunch." Ippan said as she adjusted her eye-patch. "Thanks for the heads up Shino. Oh and tell you're dad sorry for me."

"...for what?" He asked.

"He'll know." Ippan turned around as he stood there in confusion.

* * *

When Ippan reached the Hokage building she walked up stairs with a curious mind. What did Tsunade have to say to her? Was she going to tell her that she didn't have a job at the end of the month? If that was so then she didn't have to say anything because she already knew that.

As she walked down the hall she spotted Kotetsu and Izumo talking quiet to themselves. When they spotted her there expressions changed completely. "What's up you guys? Why all the hush hush?"

"Nothing really." Kotetsu said with a conflicted look on his face. It was a cross between a smile and constipation. Ippan decided that she didn't want to know why. When walking past them she hears Izumo speak.

"They grow up so fast." Whatever that meant.

Ippan shook her head and opened the Hokage's door. "Lady Tsunade is there something going on? Kotetsu and Izumo are-" To her surprise Gaara and Temari stood in the office as well.

"Hey, bestie, Temari! You all have business? Should I come back when you're done?" Ippan turned back toward the door.

"Actually they're here because of you." The girl turned looked back at the woman in shock before glancing to Gaara. His expression gave nothing away, so she looked at Tsunade. Who looked amused, very amused.

Ippan narrowed her eye in suspicion. "...Because of me? Look if this is about that shinobi from the market you can-"

"Shinobi, what are you talking about?" Tsunade asked with a raised brow.

"Nothing."

"Well we can talk about whatever that is later. Gaara has something that he'd like to discuss. We'll give you two the room." Everyone walked out and left them there together.

"Why didn't you write a letter? Not that I'm unhappy to see you here." She only wondered why he'd want to be here in person.

"I...wanted it to be a surprise." He confessed.

"Wanted what to be a surprise?" She asked curiously.

"I know that we haven't been friends for long." Gaara started.

"What are you talking about? I've been coming to see you for over a year now and we've been friends for longer then that."

The younger boy paused for a moment. Most likely collecting his thoughts. "Yes well, I know that your time as an assistant is coming to an end and I'd like to offer you a job as my assistant."

"Oh." Is all she could think of to say. It was certainly a surprise. However, she couldn't help but wonder why he had to come all the way here to express this news. He usually wrote to her.

"I would also like to court you now." He said.

For a moment Ippan didn't quite understand what was being said until it finally clicked. "... _Oh_. You mean me?"

"Are you not Ippan Shinpuru?"

"I am."

"Then yes, I mean you."

"...Oh." Silence. "You mean like dating?"

"Yes, if you want to call it that." He answered rather bluntly.

"You like me?"

"Yes."

"Since when?" She asked in disbelief.

"For a while now." He admitted. "Do you no longer have feelings for me?"

"I do, but it's just weird hearing you say it." She explained. "Are you sure you're okay? Did the Suna heat finally get to you?"

Gaara tilted his head. "Are you suggesting that my feelings aren't genuine?"

"No...I don't know."

"Well let's settle it then. Do you like me?" She nodded. "Then there it is settle. Can I court you?"

Ippan paused."Okay."


	49. When Life Is Complete

"I can't believe it." Ino said as she shook her head.

"Well believe it, because it's true." Ippan replied with a shrug.

"It's too unreal. To think that you were an over weight little girl with no social ethics stalking your best friend's sensei. Now look at you." She continued. "Only two thirds of that is still true. I'm so proud."

"You and Sai deserve each other." Ippan stated. Though it was clear that Ino's blatant rudeness didn't bother her. It was how they communicated and that was how it was since they met.

Ino raised her left eyebrow. "Was that suppose to be an insult?"

"No, just an observation. I'm curious about how you two got together. Was it because you both wear belly shirts? Was it love at first sight of abs?" Ippan joked with a quirk of her lips.

The blond shrugged. "Maybe."

"That's shallow."

"I didn't say it wasn't." The two paused before smirking at one another. "I'm happy for you. Gaara seems like a good guy now."

"Thank you." Ippan said with a widened smile as she looked at the flowers in the shop. "Ah, I'm gonna miss this place."

Ino rolled her eyes. "Oh stop it. It's not like you're never coming back to Konoha. Suna is a village ally and you're the Kazekage's assistant so of course you'll come too."

"Man Ino, I thought you'd be more emotional than this."

"Were you expecting me to cry?"

"Ah no, your tears would make me uncomfortable and then I would have to leave."

"Wow and you call me insensitive." The girl crossed her arms. "...Mm, I guess if I _had_ to feel something. I'd miss the money coming in from our best customer." She smirked as Ippan's eyes narrowed.

"And to think that I had you on my wife list."

Ino blinked. "You had a wife list too?"

"Of course." Ippan said as if it was obvious.

"...what number was I?"

The girl smiled and held a hand to her chin. "Mm I can't remember, your number was too low. You were like a back up to my back up."

"Wow."

"Don't feel too bad. I only had three for sure. Koyuki Kazahana, that woman is a God sent angel. Then there's Hinata and Tenten."

"Wait, why Tenten? You don't even talk to her." Ino asked.

"Why not Tenten and sure I do. She works at the weapons shop. I see her when I go in from time to time." Ippan explained. The blond stared at her for a moment.

"Do I want to know why you go to the weapons shop at all?"

"...probably not."

Ino sighed. It was for the best that she changed the subject. "Well, I suppose since I won't be seeing you for a while I'll give you a discount."

"A friendship discount?" Ippan asked with a tilt of her head.

The girl thought about for a moment before shrugging. "Sure, why not."

Ippan grinned, remembering the first time she'd ever spoke to Shikamaru. "And he said it wasn't a real thing."

* * *

Satisfied with her latest creation, a pink camellia crown, she headed down the street without a destination in mind. Ippan wanted to take everything in about Konoha before she officially moved to Suna. Kakashi had entered as Hokage not that long ago. Gaara had been prepared housing for her to move before coming back to Konoha to visit. He insisted on taking the time to introduce himself to her parents as it was the "proper" thing to do. Of course she understood why he'd want to, but it seemed silly. Her parents weren't that hard to please.

 _I mean look at look at their daughter_ , she thought.

Ippan decided to let him do what he wanted and went out on her own. To be honest she was curious about what they would talk about but tried her best to stay occupied. It wasn't working. She needed a distraction. Suddenly her stomach growled. That'll work. She looked around for a moment before settling onto Ramen Ichiraku. It was simple and coincidentally she noticed a familiar figure sitting in one of the seats.

The girl walked over and slid into one of the seats with a smile. "Hey guys."

Teuchi turned around in confusion before giving a smile of his own. "Do my eyes deceive me?"

"No they do not, my good man, for it is I the greatness that is Ippan." The girl held a proud hand to her chest with a dramatic expression. "May you be humbled by my glorious presence."

Ayame shook her head. "We haven't seen you in a while. Where have you been?"

"Oh you know, around. Here and there."

"Gone forever." The person sitting next to her mumbled.

Ippan held a hand to her ear. "I'm sorry what was that? Could you speak a bit louder? I can't hear you over the brooding atmosphere."

Naruto finally turned to her with a scrunched up expression. "I am not brooding."

"Oh so he can speak. I though I was just hearing things." Ippan teased. The boys expression didn't budge. "Can he smile too?" She poked at his cheek repeatedly until he finally grabbed a hold of her fingers.

"Quit it."

"What's the problem? We touch each other all the time." Everyone paused. "Don't think too deeply into that statement."

"You know why."

"No actually I don't." Ippan said leaning over and turning the boy's chin toward her with the tip of her finger. Their eyes met as she raised her right eyebrow. "Would you care to enlighten me on why my best friend is so uppity?"

Naruto groaned before speaking. "Alright fine, you win."

Ippan sat back and crossed her arms. "So, let's hear it."

There was a silence until he finally just let it out. "I feel like I'm being left behind." The girl looked at him in confusion.

"Left by who? Me?" He nodded. "How?"

"You're moving to Suna and I'll be here in Konoha. And before you say it. It won't be like when I went to train. You'll be staying there, permanently." Naruto mumbled.

"But that doesn't mean I won't come to visit. How does that mean I'm leaving you behind?" Ippan asked. "If anything you've left me. You're greater than everyone's expectations and mine are pretty high."

"Well I'm not talking about _everyone_. I'm referring to my first and best friend. Someone whose practically family, dattebayo."

The girl fiddled with her eye-patch for a moment. "And you think that's going to change when I move?"

He shrugged. "Maybe."

Ippan put a hand on his shoulder as she spoke. "Well you're an idiot."

"Hey!" He yelled.

"Do you honestly think that if I move I'll forget about you. Don't forget you were my first friend too you know." She exclaimed. "And that's never going to change. I mean I saw you naked and as a woman with no complaints. That's real friendship right there." Ayame and Teuchi slowly turned around to register if they heard her correctly.

"Yeah I guess you're right." He said rubbing the back of his head.

"Oh, I know I'm right." Ippan said. "And don't forget. Visits go both ways, so you'd better come to see me as much as I see you."

"Well I'll be working hard to become the Hokage so I don't think I can." Naruto said thought she could sense he was trying to tease her.

"I'll tell you what. When you become Hokage, I'll give you a wish." He looked at her curiously.

"A wish?"

"Mmhm, like a genie."

"What's a genie?" He asked with a tilt in his head. Ippan sometimes said things that didn't make any sense...which was all the time.

"That's not important. You get one thing. A request from your's truly."

"Anything I want? You're serious?" She nodded. "Alright, I want you to be there at my ceremony."

"That's it?"

"Yep." He smiled and she did the same slowly after.

"Alright, I think I can manage that."

"...so Gaara" He asked curiously.

"Yep."

"Where is he?"

"Introducing himself to my parents."

"Oh."

"What?"

"You're dad is pretty intimidating for a civilian."

Ippan looked at him as if he was joking. "Seriously _my_ dad? Ha, you're funny." If anything her mother was the one everyone was afraid of.

* * *

"So, how was it with my parents?" Ippan asked as she swung lightly on the swing set. Gaara sat against a tree with his legs crossed and his hands on his needs.

"Fine, I suppose."

"You suppose?"

"You're father is rather...intimidating."

Ippan blinked. " _How_?" She just couldn't see that being a possibility, but Naruto said the same thing.

"I'm not entirely sure." He muttered as if he was still searching for an answer himself.

Mm. "Well, I got you something. Actually, I made it." She said with a grin.

"A gift?" He questioned.

"Yep." Ippan suddenly pulled out the flower crow and place it on his head. Gaara blinked with an expression less face.

"...what is it?"

"A flower crown, silly." His face didn't change and it only made it more funny to look at. Especially now that he was obsessed with perfectly kept hair. "Aw you cute or whateva."

"My current appearance is to your liking?" He questioned.

"Definitely."

"Then I'll keep it on for now." Ippan lifted her head and let out a laugh.

"Yes, my life is complete."

"You certainly have simple life goals." Gaara replied and she looked at him with a widening grin.

"Oh believe me. This would have been nearly impossible to accomplish a few years ago. You've gone from threatening to kill me to wearing a crown made of flowers."

Gaara was silent for a moment. "Then I suppose this really is an accomplishment."

"Right?" Ippan said. "You're so adorkable now."

"I'm what?"

"An adorable dork." She explained with a sigh. "But I just want to mess up your hair so bad." The wild look was better.

"If you do that then I'll take off the crown you find so endearing."

"Mmmm, fine." She said swinging up her legs. "...pretty please?"

"No."


	50. Ippan's Rapping Career

"I came to your ceremony just like you asked." Ippan said with a wide grin as she elbowed Naruto in his side. "Now give me something. I deserve a reward for remembering our promise." The boy gave her a deadpanned expression.

"This isn't the ceremony I was talking about."

The woman raised her brow in mocking surprise. "What, so you didn't want me to come to your wedding? Well why invite me then?"

The younger man sighed. "I'm starting to regret it."

"Oh you know it wouldn't be the same without me." Ippan replied.

Naruto thought about it for a moment before shrugging. "No, it would be quieter and more relaxing."

"How so? You'd still be here wouldn't you?"

"Touche'."

" _And_ if I wasn't here there would be a yearning in your heart to have your beloved Ippan present on this special day." She put a hand to her forehead and flicked her short curled lavender hair aside. "And then you'd cry or something and then it would be weird for everyone."

Naruto's eye twitched as he turned to Gaara who stood quietly beside her. He made no expression that he approved or disapproved of her actions. It was clear that he was use to her.

"So why aren't you over their with your new hubby?" She continued.

"Well if you stopped talking crazy for a second then I could tell you."

"Go on then."

"Hinata thought it would be nice if our closest friends said a few words and I agree with her." Naruto said. Ippan took a moment to turn around and look over at the new bride as she noticed the girls gaze with a smile.

"Ooooh, Hinata says so hm? Sounds like your whipped."

"Hey Ippan?"

"Yes, bestie?"

"Shut up." He said.

"Will do." She said as she saluted.

Naruto shook his head. "So will you do it? Kiba is speaking on Hinata's behave. I'd like you speak on mine."

Ippan looked at the blond with glittering eyes. "Aw bestie. Of course I will." Naruto smiled in return. "But I'm gonna bring up the naked thing."

The mans face slowly shifted into a frown. "Of course you would."

Gaara's face shifted. "Wait, naked?" Ippan shifted to Naruto before shifting on her foot.

"Oh you know, back when Naruto use to turn into a woman. Didn't I ever tell you that?"

"No, you didn't."

"Really I could of swore I...hey I should go up their now!" The woman trotted lightly away from the two.

Gaara looked back at Naruto. "She escaped." _He'll just have to corner her later._

"Naruto what exactly was she talking about?" Ippan's mother said as she walked up to the man.

"Nothing to worry about, _Ikari_." The man said in a loud enough tone that reached Ippan ears.

"Ugh, stop it!" He heard her yell from across the room. Naruto and Ikari laughed slightly.

"So that really bothers her?" Himitsu asks with a raised eyebrow. The blond looked at him and sweat-dropped. He tried to avoid calling Ippan's mother by her first name in front of her father.

"Yes."

A light smirk appeared on his face. "Then keep it up." Naruto relaxed.

"Ah making her uncomfortable is fun." She said.

"Yes, yes it is." The blond replied.

When Ippan arrived at the front of the crowd, waiting for Kiba to finish what he had to say. She glanced to Shikamaru caught sight of her and gave her a questioning look. "What's up with you?"

"Naruto asked me to give a speech and a speech he shall get."

He looked concerned. "Oh no."

"What do you mean 'oh no', I'll have you know I expound my words like a poet."

"Yeah, if the poet wanted everyone to feel extremely uncomfortable."

"Maybe that's part of my image ever think of that." She decided not to deny his claim against her.

"Image?"

"Yeah, Killer Bee says I could be his sidekick rapper." Ippan explained. "Together we'd be B.I., but not like in a sexual way. Cause you know-"

Shikamaru put a hand to his forehead. "I know Ippan. This is what I'm talking about."

"I'm telling you it could be my second calling."

"And what's your first?" He questioned. _And did he really want to know?_

"Organizing papers, obviously." She said as if there was no clearer answer. It was more anticlimactic than he expected, but he supposed that he could have gotten a stranger response.

Soon it was Ippan's turn to walk up and she walked out in front of everyone with a smile. "Greetings friends, family, Sai." Everyone sighed knowing which way this speech was going to turn. "We have come here today to celebrate the marriage of Hinata and Naruto. It's funny how I told Naruto to have an affair with Hinata when we were married and they turn around and get together. What are the odds?"

Naruto rolled his eyes, but nodded. _She's right._ Meanwhile Hinata looks confused on what exactly the girl was referring to.

"When I first met this loud mouthed kid I can't say I expected that this day was coming, but I'm sure glad it did. I'm proud of you and everything you've accomplished. I'm sure if Jiraiya and your parents could see you right now they'd feel the same way I do." Ippan grinned and shrugged lightly. "Ah, that's it." Everyone began to clap and Naruto came over, hugging her as she returned the gesture.

"I thought you were going to bring up the naked thing."

"I decided to give you a little break." She said. "Are you gonna cry?"

"No." Ippan swore she heard a sniffle.

"Cause if you do, I won't judge."

"Yes you will."

The girl smirked and patted him on the back before letting him go. "You know me well." She let go and walked over to Hinata. "Congratulations."

"Thank you, those were nice things you said."

The girl grinned. "Can you believe I came up with it on the spot."

"Yes." Hanabi answered bluntly.

Ippan blinked before shrugging. "I appreciate your honesty." The young Hyuuga had nothing else to say. "Be good to him now okay?"

Hinata blushed and nodded. "I promise."

"Alright, I'm gonna hold you to it." The two smiled at one another before Ippan walked on ahead when she spotted someone. "Bee!" The older man turned around and looked at the young woman.

He snapped his fingers and pointed in her direction. "Ayyyeeee."

She mimicked his actions. "Ayyyeeee."

"I appreciate your vibe little I. It worked and it was unexpected. Your strong in the element of surprise category." He said with a nod.

"Thank's big Bee. I tried, I tried."

"Please don't encourage her." Ino said with Sai walking up behind her.

"Oh hush you. This is my calling."

"You literally decided this was your dream when you found out he was coming to the wedding."

"And?"

"That was yesterday." She answered.

"Hey, quit ruining my hopes and ambitions." Ippan said. "The time frame doesn't matter as long as I have heart. Right Bee?"

"Yeah, I believe in you little I." He gave her a high-five and they gave a nod of understanding before he walked away.

"Well I believe a person should have some sort of skill to work off of." Sai chimed.

"Is that an insult Sai? Is it because I said your name rather than put you in the friends category. It was a joke, sort of."

"Well maybe you should put your focus onto something else. Like your job or Gaara. I remember when you were so gung-ho about getting married and you've been with him what five years?" Ino said.

"Hey, it's been four and we all can't be like you and Sai. Where our common interests are belly shirts."

The blond shrugged. "Well has he brought it up?"

"It doesn't matter. Now if you excuse me I have a cake to eat." Ippan began to walk away as Ino spoke.

"Yeah run away." The woman stuck out her tongue as Ino rolled her eyes. "Real mature."

Ippan picked up her piece of cake and spotted Gaara talking with Temari. She began to walk over and the two turned to her. "Hey guys."

"Hi Ippan, that was an interesting little speech." Temari said with quirk of her lips.

"I know right. I was too busy talking to Shikamaru so I didn't really hear Kiba's, but if he asks- tell him he sounded like a Shakespeare play."

"A Shake what?"

"Tell him it was nice."

Temari blinked. "Oh, okay. I'll go do that...I guess." She glanced betweenthe two before leaving and Ippan stood beside Gaara in silence.

Her eyes glanced to his and held up a piece of cake to his mouth. "Want any?"

"No thank you."

Something was off. "Hey what's wrong? You seem solemn, like more than usual." For a moment he didn't say anything.

"I hadn't realize you were that close to Naruto."

Ippan raise her left eyebrow. "What do you mean? Because of the hug...or oh the naked thing. Yeah he was a girl so it was all good." She took another bite and hummed. "Wait, are you like jealous?" He glanced away from her. "Oh no way dude! You are! But you don't need to worry about that. He's the fox, your the panda. I prefer pandas."

"I see."

"Plus he's married and super whipped." She paused. "Also I'm his mom now." Gaara didn't question that last statement. He felt relief to hear this.

"That's good."

"Aw, buddy that's cute." She bumped his side and turned. "So I've been thinking..."

"About?"

"Well, um..." Ippan hadn't ever been this nervous to ask a question before. _Just say it._ "Do you, you know, wanna get married or something?"

He paused for a few moments before registering what she said. "...Or something?"

"I just proposed and you want to question that?"

"Yes."

"I see I've rubbed off on you." She gave a nod of approval.

"Indeed you have." Gaara glanced over to her. "I hadn't brought it up before because you said you didn't want to, but I'd also like to marry."

Ippan's eye opened wide. "Really?" He nodded. "Oh...okay. That's good."

"Are you surprised?" He asked.

"Yeah, kind of."

He smiled slightly."Good."

"You've been talking to Naruto and my parent's, haven't you?" The answer to that question was also yes.

 **One more chapter and we're done!**


	51. When You Accept It

Ippan blinked as she saw a small blond by sneaking around with a paint brush in his back pocket, a bucket and a long rope. "Um, Boruto what are you doing?"

Said boy flinched in surprise as he turned around when he came face to face with the older woman. She raised her left eyebrow with her arms crossed. He paled and began to feel nervousness flood over him. Though Ippan couldn't say she was upset, it was more curiosity than anything else. Knowing him he had another shenanigan up his sleeve. Of course Ippan wasn't here very often being that she did live in Suna, so Boruto didn't know that she didn't particularly care. As far as other peoples business goes.

"Um, I was...ah..." He trailed off. "Just gonna go paint something..."

The woman tilted her head. "Paint what?" For a moment he said nothing. "You should just be honest you know. I am going to see your father."

"No! Don't! I haven't even gotten to start yet!" He yelled. The boy covered his mouth and mentally kicked himself.

"And again I ask, start what?" She continued.

The boy sighed in defeat. "...I was gonna paint the faces of the Hokages, you know, just for fun."

Ippan looked up at him as he stared at the ground before staring up at Naruto's carved features in the stone wall."Oh."

He looked at her in disbelief. "Oh? That's all."

"Is 'oh wow' better?"

"I don't know I guess I expected more from you auntie." He mumbled. "The old man said you were like this but I thought he was exaggerating."

A smirk formed onto her face. Old man? Naruto."Well, maybe you should listen to him more."

Boruto scoffed. "Look if you're going to tell on me go right ahead."

The woman put a hand on her hip as she looked the child over. He really looked a lot like his father, acted like him too. She remembered trying to talk him out of doing the exact same thing his son was attempting to do. Of course it didn't work and he still got into trouble later on. So what was the point.

"You're right I am going to tell on you." She stated bluntly, causing the boy to mumble under his breath and glare at the dust beneath him. "I'm actually going to see you're father right now. Though don't get me wrong, you're a cute kid but you aren't my priority so it might slip my mind for a bit before I tell him."

Boruto furrowed his brow at her statement before registered what she was saying. A surprised expression formed on his face. "Are you saying you're going to let me do it?"

She adjusted her eye patch and casually looked down at him. "I don't know what you're talking about."

A smile began to form on his face. "Oh, you're the best auntie!"

"Yeah, yeah, now go before I remember how to be a responsible adult." Which was never, but she didn't need to tell him that. He saluted her before running away at full speed. Ippan blinked and he was gone.

She shrugged and turned on the next street corner to see Konahamaru searching around with squinted eyes. "Hey!" Ippan called out and he looked over at her.

"Oh, Ippan you're visiting us? I haven't seen you in a while."

"Yes, well Gaara and I were gonna let Kimyouna and Shinki see their cousin, but we decided to go as a family instead." She said with a smile.

"I see, it's nice to see you." He said returning the gesture. Though he looked distracted- glancing around him with narrowed eyes.

Ippan gave him a questioning look. "Why do you look like you're on a hunt?"

"Because I am." She waited for him to continue. "Earlier I spotted Boruto with a suspicious amount of paint and knowing him that calls for trouble."

"It could mean nothing." She answered, knowing fully well what he was going to do with those items.

Konohamaru deadpanned. "When is it ever nothing with him?"

There was a pause. "You have point."

"You see? So I'm trying to stop him before he causes anymore trouble." The man's shoulders sunk. "He makes my job so hard."

Ippan was starting to feel bad. She put a hand on the man's cheek. "There, there. I'll tell you something useful okay?"

"What, you know where he is?" He looked skeptical and hopeful at the same time. Ippan nodded. "Tell me please!"

"Sorry, can't do that." She answered. Konohamaru stared at her for a moment before his eye twitched.

"And why is that?"

"Well, I told him that I would tell his dad myself and let him get a head start on his little scheme." She stated honestly.

The man groaned. "Why?" He turned. "I'm gonna go find him." Ippan held onto his sleeve.

"Nope." She said.

"Nope?" He repeated in disbelief. The older woman nodded. "Come on Ippan, give me one good reason why I shouldn't go right now."

"Because I'm you're mother and I said so." A smile formed on her face as he gaped at her.

"But you...uh...fine." He hung his head in defeat.

She patted his cheek. "Good boy."

The man rolled his eyes. "But if Naruto asks, I'm telling him it was your fault."

Ippan shrugged. "That's fine. I'm going to go see him now anyway. See you later." Waving at him, she turned walked back on her way.

* * *

Once she reached the Hokage's building, she stalked up the steps and pushed open the door. "Guess who!"

Naruto turned around and looked at her in surprise before smiling. "I was wondering when you'd show."

"Well, I got a little side tracked along the way, but I'm here now. The one you can't live without."

"That's a strange statement, Ippan." Shikamaru said, who was standing in the corner leaning against the window.

"Everything in strange when you think about it. Like how Naruto suddenly grew into a titan." She replied, walking across the room and plopping down in a chair. Which was in fact the Hokage's seat, but Naruto was beyond the point of caring."Oh, by the way Shikadai was in the midst of an epic battle when I left the house earlier. So if he's a little beat don't ask any questions."

Shikamaru stared at her. "Kimyouna?"

"Kimyouna." She confirmed.

"Ippan, your child is violent." He said.

"Yeah, I don't know where she got it from. I'm starting to think she inherited twelve year old Gaara genes." Ippan said. "But, they were playing shogi so hopefully she doesn't end up hitting people again."

"Her anger is outrageous."

"You're telling me. Thankfully we have Shinki to balance her out. His temperament is amazing." Ippan propped her hand underneath her chin. "Hey, Naruto we should switch kids. I'll give you Kim for Hima."

Said man looked at her in amusement. "You know Kim isn't that bad, and no you can't have her. I'll trade you Boruto for Shinki."

"Aw come on, Boruto is just a little trickster. Besides he reminds me of you."

Naruto pinched the bridge of his nose. "Uh, don't remind me. It feels like I'm yelling at myself sometimes."

"I have no complaints about my child." Shikamaru chimed.

"Your son looks like a girl." Ippan blurted.

He gave her a confused look. "How is that a complaint?"

"It's not a complaint, more as an observation. It's like, why...you know?" Naruto poked her in the forehead.

"Sometimes I wonder if you're okay up there, Ippan."

"I'm as okay as I'll ever get." She blinked. "Oh which reminds me, Boruto is painting the Hokage faces."

The man blinked. "He's what?"

"Painting the Hokage faces." The woman repeated.

"And you decided to tell me this now because?"

"Well because I said that I'd let him get a head start." Ippan said this as if it was obvious. Naruto held a hand over his eyes. "Are you sure you don't just wanna give all your kids to me?"

He looked at her with bright blue eyes and mumbled. "No...no...I'll handle this."

"Kay." She said. "Have fun being a parent." Naruto let the office quickly as she turned Shikamaru.

"You really could have told him earlier." Ippan shrugged and Shikamaru knew he wasn't going to get anymore of a response. "I hear you'll be adopting two more kids. Won't that be a handle full?"

"No." She answered. "Kimyouna was an only child for a while and I know that can get lonely. Plus Shinki is a good kid and I know that Kim likes having a sibling, even if she yells at him a lot. Besides Araya and Yodo are nice and Gaara likes them too. "

"Alright." Shikamaru said. She'd always talked about adopting children in a joking manner so it wasn't that surprising that she actually did it.

Ippan stood to her feet and stretched out her arms. "Well I know as an assistant that you probably have a lot of work to do so I'll see around later."

"Yeah we can eat together or something before you have to leave." He suggested.

"Will Temari be cooking?" Ippan asked with a skeptical expression.

"No."

"That's a relief."

Shikamaru looked amused. "Don't let her hear you saying that about her."

Ippan raised her left eyebrow. "Do you want her to cook?"

"No."

"Well then there you go." She started towards the door. "I'll see you later."

"Yeah, see you."

* * *

Ippan walked into the Nara house hold and for a moment she didn't hear any yelling, which was a relief. Perhaps, this time Kimyouna had actually won her first shogi match against her cousin. Suddenly there was a loud bang. Of course that was only wishful thinking she had.

The woman exhaled loudly and walked into the house. "Hello, I'm back!"

She walked into the room to see shogi pieces flying and a girl in the middle with angry dark eyes. Her long burgundy hair getting in the way of her flailing arms "I swear man you must be cheating or something!"

Shikadai didn't look fazed as he was use to her being upset when ever they played together. "No, I was just making smarter moves."

"And that makes me dumb?"

"No, I'm just a step ahead of you and to be fair you make the same mistakes every single time." The boy stated in a calm manner.

"He's right, Kim." Shinki said from his seat in the corner. Kimyouna looked at him with a furrowed brow.

"Hey, as my brother you're suppose to support me."

"Not if you're wrong." He stated.

The girl ruffled her hair in frustration. "Argh! Ah, fine! 4,000 yen, like I promised." She slapped the money into his hand with a frown.

"Thank you." He said with a smile forming on his face as he patted her shoulder. "Better luck next time."

"You're killing me here. Man, I was gonna buy a new game for my system." Kimyouna continued to frown at the smiling boy. "I just wanna punch your pretty little face."

"Well maybe you shouldn't be gambling away you're money." Ippan said as the children turned around. "What did I say about betting."

Kim groaned. "It doesn't matter now. I just lost my hopes of getting Ninja Gaiden. R.I.P my life."

"I don't even understand why you'd want to play a game about being a ninja if you _are_ a ninja." Shikadai said. "I saved you from a stupid investment."

"Shut up, Da-da."

"Stop calling me that, turtle face." They stuck out their tongues at one another and Ippan rolled her eyes. They continued to go back and forth, so she decided to leave it alone and let them figure it out. She walked by Shinki and ruffled his hair and patted his shoulder.

"Hello, mother."

"Hey, Shinki are you having fun?" Of course there was a bit of sarcasm in that statement, but it didn't hurt to ask. His expression didn't usually show how he felt.

The boy thought for a moment. "Kim is yelling a lot, so I guess that's entertaining."

"That's good to hear." She answered. "Have you seen Temari or your dad?"

"Father went to the back earlier and I think aunt Temari is back their as well." He pointed to the back hall way. Ippan smiled at him before turning on her heel and walked until she heard voices. Opening the door beside her, she saw Gaara and Temari sitting on the floor.

"Hey, do you guys want to have a barbecue?" The blond woman blinked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Well that was random."

"I was just talking with Shika and he suggested that we could get together later and eat. You know since he can't be here."

Temari shrugged. "I guess we could do that. I could cook a-"

"Temari you're beautiful, but please no." Ippan said.

She narrowed her eyes. "I'll try not to take that personally."

"What, that you're beautiful? Your standard of insults are strange." The woman continued to frown. "Oh come on Temari, last time there was a literal fire in your house."

"And we put it out."

"And at what cost! The steaks all cried out at once before being silenced. I could feel their pain." Ippan held a hand to her chest in a dramatic manner. The older woman rolled her eyes at her actions.

"Right I'm gonna go. Gaara you can deal with what you've married." She stood up as Ippan called out to her.

"Your gorgeous! Shikamaru's a lucky man!"

"Yeah, yeah." She said before closing the door.

Ippan smirked. "Messing with her is fun." She glanced over to Gaara who had been silent the entire time. "What? Do you want a complement too?"

"Perhaps." He stated.

The woman looked at him in amusement. "What seriously?" He nodded. "Uh, okay. However I have a request."

The younger man paused. "Alright."

"Your hair, you have to let me mess it up. Please." He made a face at her. "Oh quit that, I'll put it right back."

He put a hand to his chin as if he need to seriously think about it. "Okay."

Ippan pumped her fists in the air. "Victory!"

"The fact that you get excited about such a simple action is unsettling."

"Well the fact that you had to think about it is equally unsettling." Silence. He blinked when she suddenly ruffled up his hair with a happy expression. "You look better like this."

"It isn't professional. I prefer being neat and clean."

"Who cares about professional?"

"The village of Suna."

"Mm, whatever." She said suddenly pushing his cheeks together before bursting out into laughter. His expression still solemn. "You look like an unhappy fish."

"My face is funny to you?"

Ippan smirked. "Perhaps." She mimicked his earlier statement.

"I won't prohibit teasing." Though he sounding like he was playing along.

She tilted her head. "Why not, at this moment you don't have serious office worker hair so it's fine."

"Office worker?" Ippan decided not to answer him, instead she grinned. To her surprise, he grabbed onto her wrists and leaned in towards her. She closed her eyes and then-

"Hey mom do you have any- ugh!" Kimyouna backed out of the room. "Why!"

* * *

*Extra*

"So Orochimaru." Ippan asked sliding up next to him.

He looked her up and down before answering her. "Yes?"

"I've got a question for you and everyone wants to know. Now listen closely, your answer is very crucial." She leaned forward causing him to raise his right eyebrow in a questioning manner. "Are you a man or a woman?"

"Yes."

There was a long pause before she spoke. "Well alright then."

"Now I have a question for you."

"I'm all ears." Ippan answered, curious as to what he was going to say.

"Who are you and how did you get in here?"

"That's not important."

* * *

*Extra*

Ippan looked out at a raven haired girl how hid behind a pole, staring out at Boruto walking down the street. "Hey Sarada, stalking is a funny hobby and all, but if people can see you that really defeats the purpose."

She turned around with wide eyes. "I'm not stalking Boruto."

She gave the little girl a curious expression. "I didn't give any names."

Sarada blushed. "Well I'm not."

"Whatever you say." Ippan shrugged. "But a word of advice if you really want information on him, befriend an anbu. They'll get you what you need."

"...I don't think I want to do that."

"Mm, just a suggestion."

* * *

*Extra*

"Your child is probably the best thing that has ever come into existence." Ippan said, hugging Himawari into her chest.

Hinata sweat-dropped with an awkward smile. "Thank you." She looked over at Kimyouna who shrugged.

"She's not wrong."

"Hey, what about me?" Boruto asked with a frown.

Ippan glanced to him before squeezing the child lightly. "I stand by my statement."

* * *

*Extra*

"So I've finally set my rapping career into motion and since I wanted an unbiased opinion I decided you were my best option." Ippan turned toward the deadpanned raven haired man.

Sasuke took a moment before speaking. "...no."

"That's why you'll always be a duck."

* * *

*Extra*

Sai held an unshaken smile as Ippan looked him over. "Is there something wrong?"

He blinked when she sighed in a disappointed manner. "I miss the belly shirts."

There was a long silence. "...I'm sorry to hear that."

Inojin looked at the woman in disbelief. "Mom?" He whispered.

"Just accept it." Ino answered.

* * *

 **Yeah so this story was pretty fun to do and I hope you all liked it. I'll probably do more Naruto stuff in the future. Thanks for the support.**


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